Touching Smiles
by XhappywolfX
Summary: Human touch is a cruel thing for Equ, and Nepeta has been alone most of her life. They become best friends in eighth grade, and maybe something more in ninth. They're just glad they've found each other. 3rd person pov.
1. D g00dbye

**Alright, so this is one of those fan fictions you work really hard at first on and then in the middle of it I scrolled back up like 'what the fack did I just type?' I'm a noob on fanfiction, and my other work is...modest at best, but I enjoyed writing the chapters I have of this so far, so ya...hope you enjoy**

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><p>Why was he screaming? Equius didn't do anything. He didn't mean to do anything at least. This was his new family, why would he do something to the innocent little baby who was screaming for mercy in his lap. The once stern but kind father ripped his actual child out of Equius's arms, and shoved the young boy into the frantic mother's hands. Equius blinked up at his family, and would never forget the look on his new mother's face. She was scared of him, terrified even. And his new father was even worse. He was shooting daggers at the small child with his narrow almost red eyes.<p>

With the baby safely in the arms of its mother, being calmed with, as Equ would call, a 'shush-pap'. He was only barely over six, but his new father picked him up by his collar and dragged him up the marble stairs. He was too shocked to resist, and stumbled beneath his new father's feet to keep his head above this suffocating fabric. With a shove, his father sent him into his new room and slammed the too white door.

Equius watched the man disappear, and looked down at his hands. What had happened? He didn't mean to hurt it, which would be horrible. He hadn't been treated that way by anyone, and he hadn't ever done to anyone what he accidently did to his new family's baby. They were so kind to him, and this is how he treated them? Was he that horrible of a person?

He sat on his dark blue carpet that was boxed in by, only a slightly lighter shade of blue, walls. He missed his original family, his beautiful mother and genius father. He crawled over to his small suitcase that was only a slighter darker shade of blue than the carpet. He unzipped the black zipper and retrieved the small picture he had that was framed in a dark green frame. He looked at the happy smiles of a woman with long wavy blonde hair, and the man with black hair that was cut just before it reached his shoulders. Above his mother's smile were the dark blue eyes that he now looked at them with, and he had his father's hair. Everyone always said he looked so much like his father, except for his eyes. Though, he was grateful for them. They were something to always remind him of his mother.

In her arms lay him, wrapped in a light blue blanket as a crying pale baby, so pale he looked almost grey, just like his father, just like he was now. In the small baby's hands was a little mechanical horse that Equius now withdrew from the bag. His dad used to be a toy maker, and loved bright colors and children. He was the perfect dad, but he always wished he didn't decide to go on that vacation with his mother. Equius felt tears in his eyes, and he brushed them away quickly. He looked around, hoping no one would see, but obviously no one was in the room with him. He was just a sad little orphan who was all alone in the world, locked away so no one would have to suffer at his hands once more.

Equius turned his attention back to his horse, needing a distraction from his tormented thoughts. He wound up the small toy, and let it play across his hands, and when the strange neigh-filled melody started, he started bouncing a little. He always used to play cowboy in the orphanage, and let his small horse play the music as it trotted beside him. It had notes that sounded like they should be played on a trumpet or a piano, and mixing it with the neighing and the cantering, it was the perfect song for any horseman. Though he never did like the end of it, it always seemed so sad instead of adventurous and hopeful like his father probably intended.

He actually smiled for a little, and relaxed back against his bed listening to the familiar cowboy music. It was true that blue was his favorite color, but this whole room just screamed a ridiculous amount of it. Dark blue bed, dark blue carpet, blue walls, dark blue furniture, dark blue curtains, dark blue suitcase. It seemed like he was submerged in the ocean, especially with the lights off like they were now. He had to admit to himself that it was a very nice house, and he was lucky to be here, but there was just too high of a chance of hurting the small crying baby below his feet in the rooms below him. Equ sighed and closed his eyes, melting into the darkness and the blue that enclosed him.

Equ opened his eyes, and wished he could close his ears to the shrill crying of his little brother, who probably fell down the stairs and obtained his entire leg being bruised. He got up and looked to his left at his room that was sprinkled with any miscellaneous trinket or machinery thinkable. On his latest invention, a robot that could only spark and shake, his thick black glasses rested. He liked keeping his eyes tucked away, they were his gift and no one was ever going to take that from him.

He was now twelve years old, and even more quiet and reproachable than he was at 6, if that were even possible. He changed out of his sweaty pajamas and into his usual black suit. He hated sleeping in his room, or even in his bed. It was just too stuffy for him, and he sweated too easily. It was better for him not to sleep usually than to wake up in a wet mess on his bed. Keeping the shadows that were permanently under his eye lids hidden was just another perk of his dark glasses.

He exited his continuously dark room cautiously, winding through the mess off machinery, and he stroked the small horse that lay on his messy black desk beside his computer. He glanced at his computer and just sighed, no one was pestering him like usual. He shut the door behind him on the way out and headed down the stairs. Or at least he tried to. He tripped over a rope or something and crashed down the stairs. He heard laughter and looked up to see his little brother laughing at him in front of him at the base of the stairs where he ended up, and he looked behind him to see his friend doing the same at the top of the stairs. His friend though had a long white rope, and was about to fall over from his chortling. Equius calmly got up, and walked back up the stairs to grip the kid's shirt. He brought the little monster's face up against his, and he glared furiously at him through his thick glasses.

The kid squirmed a little before smiling. "What are you going to do? I'll just tell your new mommy on you and you have to go back to your room like the ungrateful child you are." This was certainly surprising for a 6 year old, and Equius paused. In that short pause though, the kid wriggled out of his grip and bolted down the stairs. Equius's little brother followed in suit, and they rushed off together.

"Don't let that get you down sweetie", chimed in a sweet voice and Equius turned to see his Mom beside him, about to head down the stairs. He rushed to help her, as gently as he could, but he already saw the bruise forming on her elbow. He retreated and bowed his head apologetically, but she just smiled and stroked his sharp cheek bones. "It's alright. I know you can't help it. Just like me and your little brother can't help being this way. It's this dreaded disease."

It was true, it wasn't his fault. He had thought it was his fault the first year he was in their home, but then his mother finally convinced his father to tell him. His mother, his little brother, and his uncle all had the gene that carried Von Willebrand disease. If he even touched them, their skin would bruise. That's why he was brought into this family. He was bought like a slave to protect his little brother from anything that might harm him. It wasn't too tough of a job, but it bothered him that his little brother, his friends, and his father took advantage of him. He just quietly let things like that pass, and reveled in his mother's actual love, even if she was a little wary of him.

He walked through the large, marble, cream room and into the bright yellow kitchen where two cooks noticed him and readied his breakfast. He sat on the wide dining table next to his mother who was across from his father. His father looked up from his large crippled newspaper, and sent a glance from his mother's arm to Equius. He narrowed his eyes, but his fat lips turned up in a grin. "I see you bruised her again. What a ruffian we have welcomed into our house."

Equius visibly cringed, and his mother sent a pity glance his way. He covered his head with his hand, and was grateful when the food was served. It was just the way he liked it. Lots of bacon and eggs, with hot sauce dribbled across both and a large bowl of cereal, smothered in mostly milk. Beside it stood a tall glass of milk, which he immediately downed, looking sideways, away from his father underneath his glasses. When he finished he set it down, rubbed the excess from his lips, and started digging into his bacon.

His brother and his friend eventually came in, and the evil little boy slapped the back of his head as he was eating his cereal. His head slammed into the bowl, and he looked up with milk drenching his face. His father and brother laughed, and his mother rushed to get a napkin. He saw his brother high five his friend, and his dad took a picture with his iPhone.

"You look like an angry cat after it had its sloppy dinner!" he exclaimed, and Equius thought it was anything but funny. His mother brought back the towel, and he washed his face with it before throwing it on the table and getting up. He rushed up stairs and away from everyone, back to the quiet sanctuary of his room. There were other rooms down the hallway, but he didn't even remember what they looked like. He'd only been in the other rooms when he had to do chores or get his brother, but never to hang out with his parents or brother. His room is where he lived, and he liked it that way.

He cleaned his face the rest of the way, and threw the towel amongst the many others that were part of the litter strewed across his floor. He lay back on top of his bed, and must have fallen back to sleep because the next thing he remembered was his Dad pushing him off, and dragging him towards the door. His father threw him roughly, and came after him. Equius got up quickly and backed up outside and into the hallway. His father passed him and bounced his fat body down the stairs. Equius didn't even blink, and followed in pursuit.

His father, little brother, and mother were all waiting to go by the time he reached them. His little brother rolled his eyes and sprinted out of the house and towards the waiting limo. Equius didn't need a jacket, because summers were always too warm where he lived. He followed his parents out, and opened the limo door for all of them. He filed in after them, and rested his head back against the comfortable black leather seats. His little brother talked to his parents about his friends, and coming birthdays, but Equius could care less.

He didn't know where they were going until his mother piqued in about how excited she was to be going to this play. He deduced that that's where they were going by his father's comments before losing track of the conversation. He spent the ride looking out at the sunset streets they passed, and grumbled a little. He hated how the hot sun set and reflected off his black glasses like a mirror. He couldn't see the colors through his thick glasses, but they still annoyed him. The only color he liked was the color that swam around the afternoon sun, but that color had faded and had been replaced by the ugly orange and purple colors.

Finally, with a jolt, Equius realized that they had stopped. He looked up to see his family looking at him expectantly, and he jolted up quickly. He opened the limo door and held it for them as they exited. They headed into a ritzy looking opera house, and Equius couldn't help but look away from the red and bright green that entrapped him as he followed his family. They found their seats quickly, and the play began almost instantaneously.

He didn't really pay attention to it, but it disgusted him. All it was were blindingly bright colors moving at an alarming pace in circles around the stage. There was also singing, which he didn't pay attention to. He did however pay attention to the animals they brought onto the stage. There was a large white horse, and several chickens, as well as a braying donkey. He stared at the animals in excitement, and actually paid attention to the words sung by the dressed up woman in center stage. All too quickly, their part was over, and the play's curtains closed.

He stepped out of the isle and let his family file out. They were chatting excitedly about the play, and Equius just followed them solemnly. "What was your favorite part Honey?" His mother surprised him with the question, and he felt himself perspire as he fidgeted in place.

"Mine was the err Ho-"he stopped as someone gave him a hard shove from behind. He glared at the person, but it was too late. His family was laughing at something else as they kept moving towards the exit. Equius hurried to catch up with them, and waited with them at the front for their limo to get there. Soon though, as the opera house became deserted, they started to panic. It was dark, and no street lamps were lit. Even the employees of the opera house had vanished, and they were left alone on the deserted street.

"We can just walk home. It's not that far, and it's a summer afternoon." Equius offered, looking over his worried family. His father fixed him with a glare.

"Walk home in this neighborhood? It might be suitable for ruffians like you, but not for us actually respectable people." He growled out, and retrieved his iPhone from his front pocket.

"Well we're pretty suited to it, why don't you just come with us so no one will see what'll go down" a strange voice from behind his little brother said. Everyone looked at him to see a tall man in a bright and colorful hoodie holding a gun to his little brother's head. Equius looked around to see four others close around them. His father gulped, and they were forced to a nearby alleyway.

If Equius thought it was dark before, he was wrong. The alleyway had rafters and tall brick walls that blocked out the minuscule moon light, and inky blackness seemed to surround them. All was dark except the vibrant colors in which the gang members were wearing. Of course his mother was decked out in a ritzy red dress, and his father a bright blue shirt and tie, but their colors looked dull against the vibrant oranges and teals the gang members used to stand out in the darkness. Equius stepped closer to the man in bright green that was holding a gun to his little brother's head. He could already see a bruise forming on his thin haired scalp, and it made Equius infuriated.

Once submerged in the ink of the alley, the man took the gun from his brother's head and aimed it at his dad. His dad retracted his wallet, but before he could take out the money, Equius was on the move. He had noticed earlier that this man was the only one with a hand gun, and the rest merely had bats and chains. If they ran fast enough, and with Equius holding the members back, they could probably escape. In one swift movement, he launched at the man with a gun, and pushed his wrist upwards, causing the gun to be out of harm's way. He then turned and forced all of his 12 year old weight into one jab, and securely slammed his elbow into the man's rib.

Blood dripped down above him, and he heard footsteps of people running almost immediately. He looked up, expecting his family to be on their way to safety as the gang members closed in on him, but he didn't realize his one fatal mistake. They were just staring at him, shocked, like incompetent buffoons. They didn't know that they should high-tail it out of there, because they don't know what to do in this circumstance. Their entire life has been away from these horrible creatures that dared to call themselves people, and when they do what's in their nature, people with actual lives and morals are struck clueless.

All these things raced through his mind at once before a metal bat slammed into his stomach. He doubled over and retched, feeling blood pool on his lips. He tried to wipe it away, but his arm was torn back and he was forced to stand up straight. He grunted as he felt his arms slip out of their sockets, and looked up through his shades as a shot rang out. He tried desperately to break the holds that held him, but he was useless as another shot rang out, and ragged wails filled the air. "Sam, get the money and let's get out of here. I don't think I can sleep at night knowing I killed two kids." Shouted someone to his left, and a fist collided with his mouth, breaking his teeth. He felt warm blood pool up behind his lips, and he was breathing hard to try to retain some consciousness.

Before he knew it, he was thrown on the ground. Several kicks collided with his stomach and nose, but it was like the pain was a distant storm cloud, and he felt above it all. The pain eventually stopped, and the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was a new cloud. It was black, but it was settling instead of angry and tormented. It settled over him, and under its darkness, he fell asleep.


	2. 33 ac is all alone

**SO much easier to write in Nepeta's view! Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes, but this one I actually self edited *prays to whatever merciful god there is that it doesn't have any mistakes so my editor doesn't laugh at me* well, until Equ starts meeting people, there won't be many jokes in his pov. In Nep's I'm going to try to stuff as many as I can so I can keep you crazy people satisfied, so I hope you enjoy! Please reveiw so I can have strength to write a new chapter in Equ's pov...(Id wanna go back there mommyyyyyyy oAo)**

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><p>"Karkitty!" a familiar voice squealed, and Karkat turned around only to be knocked off his feet by a small figure launching towards him. She enveloped her small arms around him in a hug, and they were both heaped together on the ground. Karkat pushed her off and muttered some curses to him-self. Nepeta gaped at him and closed his mouth with her hand. "Shush, a teacher might hear silly willy!"<p>

"Then get off of me! I don't want anybody to think I've caught your stupid cooties or some stupid shit like that!" Nepeta gaped at him again, and stared at him. He did a double take and his usual glare actually faded as he raised his eye brow. "What?"

"Karkitty!" she gaped.

"What?" he asked again, now getting annoyed.

"The 'S' word is a potty word! I told you not to say that!" Nepeta scolded him, and just laughed when he pushed her off. She straightened her blue cat shaped hat and stood up alongside him. He glared at her and pushed her down again, but she just laughed and tackled his feet. He fell down again like always (he wasn't that strong) and Nepeta crawled on top of him to pin him down with her knees. "Someone needs to be tickled!" she squealed and started to dance her little fingers along his sides until his scowl faded and was forcibly replaced by a broad grin.

"Aw g-god damn it Nep!" he cursed at her and Nepeta stuck her tongue out at him.

"That's an even worse word!" She picked up a flower and started tickling his nose with it. He tried to wiggle his arms out from underneath her knees, but it was impossible. He was eventually able to flip her over and pinned her down, glaring down at her.

"You're such a grub Nepeta." He pinned one of her arms with his knee and picked up some of the clay dirt that was piled up beside her thick dark brown curls. He smashed it in her face and stuck his tongue out as she tried desperately to wiggle her head away from his hand. She couldn't stop giggling until she eventually bit his hand. He yipped and drew his hand back, and Nepeta used the advantage to push him off. Nepeta started to run and Karkat chased after her. She was of course faster, but Karkat could at least try to keep up.

"Hehehe, catch me if you can Karkitty!" she squealed and Karkat, far behind her and still weaving through the playground, started to growl and shout angry tired curses.

"Nepeta you fucking wriggler, I hope you run out of breath and die! At your funeral I won't even cry because I'll just remember how much of a stupid-head you're being!" Just then a dark shadow moved in front of him.

Nepeta couldn't stop giggling as he was dragged away by their teacher and put in time out as she called his mother. Nepeta hid in the gardens, watching him sit angrily on the bench. The teacher eventually let him leave, but it was only a few minutes before recess was supposed to be over. Karkat rewarded her success and half-butted sorry by a shove, but Nepeta just got up and skipped after him like usual.

"You're so silly Karkitty! It was just a joke." She teased, walking in with him.

"You didn't have to sit on that stupid bench. Usually only stupid little wrigglers have to sit on that bench." He grumbled and looked away from her and towards the front of the line, but Nepeta pressed further, like usual.

"Karkitty?" she inquired.

"Yeah wriggler?" he shot back.

"What's that?"

"That's a computer mouse." Karkat thought she meant what was on the board on the side of the hallway, but she just shook her head and shoved him playfully.

"Not that silly! What's a wiggler?"

"You're a wiggler."

"No, like, what's it mean?"

"It means a big fat baby who drools and looks stupid."

"Well that's not nice!" They entered the small computer lab and they both sat together like usual. Nepeta smiled and waved at her other friend, Aradia, who entered the room and sat in her spot beside Nepeta. They both happily opened up paint and Aradia started to draw a poor sheep hugging a cat, and Nepeta drew a cat playing with Karkat's dark brown hair. Karkat grumbled and opened up the program as well. He drew a quick doodle of Nepeta before drawing a gun shooting bullets through her. Nepeta punched him in the shoulder and he stuck his tongue out at her yet again as he rubbed his shoulder.

"So Aradia how was the extra credit thingy you went to during lunch?" Nepeta inquired while sticking her fingernails into Karkat's skin at his wrist. He was squirming and trying to resist the pain, but gave up and pushed her away.

"It was boring like always" she smiled and Nepeta returned her smile fully. Karkat glared at his computer screen and actually did the typing lesson they were told to do. Nepeta settled back in her chair and asked Karkat what exactly they were supposed to do and Aradia and Karkat helped her along. She wasn't the best at typing, but Karkat or the smart kid, on the other end of the classroom, were the best. She was better at doodling, and she did that in between lessons on paint. She wished there was an easier way to draw, other than with a mouse, so it would appear on the computer screen. Like if she could just draw on the computer screen with a pencil.

She was just finishing a doodle of a sleeping kitten when the bell rang. She walked out of the class and back to their homeroom. She waved goodbye to Aradia, whose cubby was just beside the door. Aradia was always quick in getting her stuff, and really didn't even need a cubby. She had offered for others to take her cubby, since it was the easiest to use quickly, but no one took the nicest student in class up on her generous offer. Everyone already thought she was too helpful and nice in the first place, and didn't want to take such a great cubby from her.

Nepeta skipped over to her cubby and dumped all of her papers into her cat shaped backpack. She then rushed to meet Karkat, who had just fit everything into his backpack. She hugged his waist and headed out the door with him. They ended the day riding home together, before Nepeta was taken home by her mother from the bus stop, and Karkat remained on the bus. He told her he was the last stop, but he never told her where he lived. Sure, they've had play dates, but he was either dropped off at her house or he met her some place like the neighborhood playground.

Nepeta's days were always like that. She sat at home drawing and role playing with Karkat and Aradia on weekends, and on school days she larped with them. Karkat was always a grump, but she was used to it. She hated girly things, and Karkat hated people, normal boys and girls, in general. She knew that although he would never admit it, he was glad he had two weirdoes like her and Aradia to hang out with. She never really was best friends with Aradia, because she liked to keep to herself, but they were still the only girls that didn't want to play house or dolls.

Instead, her and Aradia would play dress up and pretend they were animals. Kindergarteners didn't have much to do anyways, so all they did was play around all day. Karkat hated to play dress up, but would pretend to be a monster and chase the two girls around the classroom before Nepeta turned into a lion and tried to defeat him. They usually ended up tussling, and only the teacher could tear them apart.

Everything was just like that for Nepeta. She would doodle and play, and never feel alone or bored. Until of course, the summer came. It wasn't all bad though, she would mostly play with her giant fat cat or watch TV, but she missed her adventures with Karkat and Aradia. Her mother arranged play dates with Karkat, but those were only about once a month. Her mother also tried to get her to the swimming pool, but Nepeta hated water. She was convinced it was her kryptonite, and every time she was near it, it drained her cat like abilities.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, school was about to start back up again. She was talking to Karkat on the phone upstairs when she heard her mother call. She said bye to Karkitty before rushing downstairs and greeting her mother with a friendly hello. Her mother looked a little somber, and she took up her seat on the dining room table, looking at her mother curiously.

"Um, we need to talk Nepeta." She looked away from the little girl, whose curiosity was piqued. She stared at her mother with her glowing green eyes until she finally spat it out. "You aren't in the same class as Karkat this year." All of Nepeta's hopes were crushed and she somberly bowed her head.

"Oh." Her mother shifted a little uncomfortably.

"But school starts next week, so I arranged it so we could meet him at the store. He said he'll bring his money so you two could shop together." Her mother forced a smile, but Nepeta just nodded glumly before retreating back into her room.

She walked slowly through her fairly normal, but livid green house, and climbed up the brown stairs on all fours. She chased her white cat with beady black eyes, and eventually picked him up and proceeded into her room. She took off her blue cat hat and set it aside before cuddling up against her cat under her covers. She wondered what Karkat was doing before taking a cat nap with her cat snuggling into her chest.

Finally it was the day she had been dreading for an entire week, the first day of school. Shopping with Karkat was fun, but it only reminded her that she was barely going to see him after school let in. She got ready and threw on a shirt and some pants, and then fixed her hat so it let out some of her, now almost blonde, curls. Summer always had a habit of bleaching her hair, even though she stayed inside through most of the season. She grabbed her stuffed cat with straps that sufficed for her backpack, and stuffed her neatly plastic wrapped workbooks into its mouth. It was a lot more notebooks than last year, but when she looked through them, she decided more than half looked too easy.

She met her mother downstairs, and ate a quick breakfast before she and her mom moved out of the house and proceeded to the bus stop. Nepeta took a quick peak up at her mom and smiled. Her mother had the same green eyes as her, and the same dark curls that were now a few shades lighter because of the radiant sun that was currently asleep on the other side of the world. They reached the end of the street, and Nepeta watched the large yellow bus pull up from behind the corner. It crossed the street in front of her and stopped, opening its doors. She gave her mom a quick hug and grabbed the lunch box that was in her mother's hands before running in the rectangular door.

She looked around and quickly saw Karkat near the back of the bus. She ran up to him and sat beside him before giving him a big hug. He pushed her off and flipped her off, but she just giggled. She chatted more about her anything but exciting summer until they reached the school. Karkat didn't talk that much, but she was sure he listened to her. On the rare occasions when he wasn't teasing her and actually had a proper conversation with her, she would listen enthusiastically, which was the case as they walked inside. He had seen a few romance movies with his older brother and his older brother's girlfriend, and he was chatting enthusiastically about them.

He was complaining about his brother making out with his girlfriend throughout the entire movie when they reached the hallway where two classroom doors faced each other. Nepeta shuffled on her feet a little and Karkat sighed. "This is stupid. Why can't we be in the same class? Making new friends is stupid."

"Don't you dare make new friends!" Nepeta cried, and Karkat raised his eyebrow at her. Nepeta calmed down a little and settled back and rocked on her feet. "It's just; I don't want you to make new friends because what if you forget about me?"

Karkat paused a moment before surprising Nepeta with a hug. She blinked a few times, but by then he had drawn back. "You'll always be my best friend Nepeta. No one could ever replace you. Now stop being so stupid and go to class. Good luck this year ok?"

"You too Karkitty!" she teased and hugged him again really quickly before slipping into her new room.

School was even more boring this year, and twice as lonely. All she did all day was doodle on scrap pieces of paper or work in her workbooks. Aradia wasn't in her class, and the only people she knew who were, were the people she tried to avoid last year. The only person who wasn't amazed by the color pink was a tall girl near the back of the class, but Nepeta was afraid to approach her.

Nepeta was just finishing a sketch she was drawing that looked exactly like Karkitty, when the bell for lunch rang. She grabbed her food from the wooden locker type things outside, and waved at Karkat who was getting his from the other side of the hall. He didn't notice her though because he was animatedly discussing something with a tall kid with a bushy afro beside him. Nepeta just calmly got her lunch box and ran back into the class, making sure her hat was down over her eyes. She wasn't a cry baby, but she was sad. Karkat had made a new friend.

She finished most of her lunch at her seat quickly, and waited enthusiastically for recess to come when a long arm obscured her vision of the clock and she glared up into deep blue eyes hidden behind square glasses. "Wh-what do you want?" Nepeta stuttered and the girl smirked.

"Feeling down today Nepeta?" She asked and Nepeta glared more furiously.

"How do you know my name? And why does it matter to you?"

"Aw relax honey; I just was going to offer to be your friend. All the others here are boring, but you're starting to entertain me."

"You didn't answer my first question." Nepeta was getting increasingly annoyed.

"Well that one was just too easy. I've been watching you for a while. You don't seem to enjoy the same games that the other girls do."

"Well neither do you."

"Exactly, doesn't that mean we could be just the best of friends?"

"I don't even know your name!" Nepeta growled, and the girl brushed back her long black messy hair.

"The name's Vriska, Vriska Serket."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you I guess, but you could have just told me that in the first place!" Nepeta narrowed her eyes and tried to pull her ears back like a cat waiting to pounce, and Vriska just laughed.

"Oh please, you have got to be kidding me. I thought you were different. I have no intention of playing house with you."

"Then what game do you want to play? I like larping, or whatever Karkitty calls it." Nepeta said and smiled at Vriska who grinned.

"Well that's a different story! Would you like to play pirates during recess?" She asked with an actually regular smile. Nepeta was about to nod her head and run off with her, when she thought about Karkat.

"Oh I'm sorry. I usually play with someone in the other class." Nepeta lowered her head and looked at her hands in which the palms were hidden behind brown glovelets that she never took off. Vriska rolled her eyes and barked out a laugh.

"Tell me when you want to play then. I'll be waiting Mrs. Leijon!" Nepeta watched her walk away curiously, before finishing what was left of her lunch and putting her lunchbox on her wooden locker. She heard the bell ring and scurried inside the classroom to line up with all the other students in the class. They filed out and moved outside to where the other class's kids were already playing.

Nepeta immediately spotted Karkat and ran at him before pouncing. They collided and she pinned him on the ground with her knees on his back and her hands on his arms. She laughed at him. "You're too easy to fight Karkitty!"

"Ugh, Nepeta get off! Gamzee, a little help?" he asked to someone nearby as he gave up on struggling. With that, long arms wrapped around Nepeta's waist and she was hoisted into the air. She pawed and kicked in the air, and the arms finally dropped her. She looked up to see a big scary boy with a large black afro giving her a stupid smile. He was African American, but his face was painted white in a weird clown style.

"That was not a miracle, especially not you being knocked down by a little girl bro" he said in a relaxed tone that fit his lazed stature.

"I'm not a little girl! We're the same age" Nepeta yelled at him putting her hands on her hips, and he put up his hands in defense. It was true that she was really rather short, but so was Karkat.

"Don't get your skirt all up and twisted. Hey Karkat, bet I can beat you to the monkey bars." Karkat grinned and took off immediately. Gamzee waved goodbye to Nepeta and rushed off to catch up to Karkat before indefinitely getting there before him.

Nepeta bit her lip and looked for another familiar face. She saw Aradia, but she was playing with a short kid who had bushy black hair, and the smartest kid in the class who was wearing 3D glasses. Nepeta shivered to herself, realizing she was all alone and went out to seek Vriska.

That year was horrible for Nepeta. She could only see Karkat on the bus, but then he started hanging out with another girl. She was blind, and Nepeta chatted with her on the bus sometimes, but was constantly jealous of her. Not only was she everything Nepeta ever wanted to be, but she was also friends with Aradia, and eventually Karkat's girlfriend. She was confident, funny, a little obnoxious, but she wasn't afraid about who she was. Her name was Terezi, and although Nepeta couldn't hate her, she chose to ignore her and everyone else, and quietly stay by herself. She tried to be friends with Vriska, but everything she did wrong was constantly held over her. She hated it, and just chose to doodle during recess rather than be yelled at by anyone.

The year was finally over, and her mother got her tested over the summer to get her into the exceled program at her school. She passed it with flying colors, and now not only did she not have to go through with recess every day, but she was completely invisible underneath all of the third grader's arms. Of course she wasn't alone, the smart kid had also been put in the program, and she was also nice to everyone. She wasn't openly mean like Vriska, but instead of making true friends she could be confident in, she just acted friendly to everyone without letting anybody truly be her friend.

Years passed, and eventually she was in fifth grade with Sollux. She finally found out the smart kid's name when she needed help on a long math problem for extra credit. He was nice enough to her, but she found out that he was dating Aradia. She was happy that Aradia found someone so nice, but she was a little angry that Aradia had a romantic life and she had nothing, not even friendship anymore. She sulked to herself that day, but still smiled and giggled at other people's jokes.

Years passed again, and it was eventually time for middle school. The first year was spent sitting beside Sollux, the only person she knew well. Eventually though, three others joined them at their table. All three of them were in the program, and she enjoyed all three of them. All three had black hair, and two were female while the third was a male. Their names were John, who loved to prank people and play video games, Jade, who loved dogs and would talk hours on end to Nepeta about animals, and Kanaya, who was quiet, but a great listener, and always seemed to understand her. She let down some of her barriers, and they had plans and parties, and it was the most fun she had had in years.

She would never forget the day when she and Kanaya were walking home together, and Kanaya was about to leave Nepeta on her doorstep when Nepeta's mom burst through the old shabby wooden door and enveloped Nepeta in a hug. She sobbed into the young girl's shirt and told her between heart wrenching sobs. "Your father, he isn't coming back." Nepeta's world shattered. She never remembered her father, but all she knew was that he went beyond the ocean to fight bad people that would hurt her. Turns out those bad people hurt her anyways, just in a way she didn't expect. She was a mess, but Kanaya slept over at her house that night to make sure she would come out of the trauma ok.

Apparently, the only thing left of her father was a long green coat that was the same shade of her eyes. She sobbed into it, and the only one to comfort her was Kanaya. The rest of that year was horrible, even though her new friends tried to help. She vowed never to take the coat off again, and she thought that every day she wore it, was another day that her father could keep her safe from those mean people. Not just mean people who were across the ocean, but the mean people who grinned and laughed at her here.

After that year, things started to look better for her again. She came to school after the lonely summer and looked for the familiar short black hair of Kanaya, but she was lost within a crowd of familiar faces. Karkat, Terezi, Gamzee, Aradia, Aradia's now disabled friend Tavros, Kanaya, Sollux, and even Vriska greeted her with happy smiles, and she almost ran to them, but she let the long sleeves cover her gloved hands and looked at Terezi and Vriska more carefully, before wandering her eyes to Tavros. What happened to them, she didn't know, and she was scared to find out.

Terezi now had dark red sun glasses, which almost looked like Sollux's, but they were all red instead of his red and blue shades that he never took off. Tavros had shaved his hair into a Mohawk, and was smiling at her from his wheelchair, and Vriska now sported a prosthetic arm and had an eye patch over one eye. Nepeta shivered as she looked over her friends, and more carefully ran up and hugged Karkat. He pushed her off like always, but smiled a rare smile at her. Everyone except for Sollux, Gamzee, Terezi, who looked confused, and Tavros started asking her questions and throwing smiles and laughs at her. She was broken out of the daze of happiness by Terezi.

"Wait guys, who's here?" A hand landed on her dark brown hair and Nepeta looked up to see a blonde boy with dark shades.

"I would say you're stupid, even for a blind girl, but I don't even know. She seems familiar though." Something clicked together in Nepeta's mind and she smiled.

"You're Dave! You always used to be good at kickball." He blinked and then nodded before sitting next to John.

"Didn't expect to see you here egg head" he stated before propping his feet on the table. A familiar blonde girl knocked him in the head with a book before sitting next to Kanaya. Nepeta recognized her as the girl who always had therapy sessions with dolls in her elementary school, Rose.

"Wait that voice. Nepeta! It's great to see you again!" Terezi jumped up and tried to hug her, but ended up hugging Aradia instead. Aradia laughed and pointed her in the right direction before continuing her conversation with Tavros and Sollux. Nepeta smiled and nodded at her, and she sent an apology glance Nepeta's way, which she accepted whole-heartedly. Nepeta noted that Sollux looked much happier now that he was beside Aradia, but she was snapped back to her present conversation when Vriska smacked Terezi in the back of the head.

"Hey Nep" Karkat whispered and shot a small, weak, and rare smile in her direction. "I'm sorry, I found out what happened with your dad, and I'm sorry I wasn't there for you all these years. I'll make it up to you alright? I missed you." Nepeta blinked a few times to let his words sink in before tackling him in a tight and beyond friendly hug. He fell off his seat, and before they caused too much of a disturbance, she was pushed off. She missed Karkat too much, and it was beyond any emotion to find out that he missed her as well. They sat back up in their seats and Nepeta smiled at him once more.

"Oh Karkitty, I missed you too."


	3. D what's happening

Equius opened his eyes to blinding whiteness and a thrumming headache. He blinked a few times to focus his eyes to make out a white ceiling above him. He ran a hand through his greasy hair to relax his rebounding thoughts, all of them incoherent even to his own mind, when a small voice piqued up. "Hey, look who's up."

He looked to his right to see his brother sitting on a wooden chair at the foot of his bed. There were two more seats beside his brother, both barely used. Equius tried to sit up but groaned at the thunderbolt of pain that shot through him, crippling him back against the hard mattress. He groaned and put his hand out. "Where are my glasses?" He felt a hard object being put in his hands, and he unfolded his glasses before putting them in their rightful place on the bridge of his nose. He nodded in thanks, and reveled in the darkness that pushed away the blinding darkness, except through the cracks that ran through the lenses.

"Sorry about the cracks…I guess that happened when you were knocked out" his brother said, and Equius just shrugged. He looked around from his spot back against the cushioning pillows, and returned his hidden gaze to his brother.

"Where are mom and dad?" He asked, and he noted somewhere in his aching mind that his brother fidgeted uncomfortably.

"They're dead" come a new voice, and Equ looked up to see his uncle come into the room. He had a package of food in his hands, and Equ heard his stomach growl. He had finally realized how hungry he was, but he didn't care. The words sent icy shocks down his body, and he stared at his pale uncle in disbelief.

He really was useless. He was brought back from the orphanage for one purpose, and he couldn't even pull that off. He was supposed to protect them, they trusted him and he failed them. He doubted there was a person alive who was more incompetent than him. He looked at his shaking hands, which were blue from fear and the usual paleness he carried. He just wanted to scream, or punch something as hard as he could. That or he wanted to chop off these dreaded hands that had caused so much pain and that were permanently stained in blood. The blood of those who he had failed, the blood of those he let die by his own failure.

His chest felt like it was about to explode, and only then did he realize he wasn't breathing. He took a large, shaky breath before looking over at his brother. He swore, until the day he decided, and no matter what happened he would put that boy's safety fist. It was the least he could do for the people he was so ungrateful to, so unworthy for. He blinked, and realized his brother was talking.

"…so uncle said he would adopt us and all, plus when I reach 18 I'll receive the family fortune and all." Equ nodded, letting them know he was listening, and inwardly scolded himself for not paying attention. Equ thought of something, and raised a question.

"How did you get me here? If you don't mind me being a tad bit rude, but you couldn't have possibly carried me, and you didn't know the location." Equ asked, and his brother looked away, fidgeting.

"I think I can answer that" piqued in a voice that Equius didn't recognize. He looked up to have his breath taken away. She had long black hair that pooled around her shoulders in thick curly waves, like the black cloud he saw before he lost consciousness. She was wearing a long red trench coat, and long denim jeans with a white tank top. She had long socks, or at least that's what he could tell from the wrinkles around her knees, underneath her pants, and black slip on shoes. She smiled warmly at him, and he felt himself perspire uncontrollably, and even though he willed himself to stop, it was futile.

"Hey Aradia!" his little brother called, smiling firmly up at the girl. She took a seat and crossed her legs smiling at Equius. It wasn't a wicked grin, just a relaxed smile, which was contagious. Equius smiled dopily back at her, and he heard his brother snicker.

"Hey there, and to answer your question I had someone over who helped me carry you to safety before calling an ambulance." She flipped her hair casually, and Equius wanted nothing more in his life than to run his fingers through her black locks. He withheld himself though, and tangled his hands in the sheets. She smiled again and asked "I think you caught my name, its Aradia, but what is yours?

"Oh um, I'm Equius" he mumbled, instantly regretting his pathetic tone. She smiled and stretched out her hand towards him. He looked unsurely at the innocent palm that was hidden underneath a fingerless glove, but eventually placed his clammy hand on top of hers. She shook his hand, and let go all too quickly. He watched her hand go sadly, and wished to himself he could hold it forever.

"What school do you go to Equ? You don't mind if I call you that right?" she asked and Equius cleared his throat, so he could at least sound a tad bit normal this time.

"I go to Andrew middle school. I'm in seventh grade this year, and I don't mind at all, that's what everyone calls me." She gasped, and he went over what he said, looking for something that might of shocked her.

` "I'm sorry, but you look like you should be in high school or something!" she laughed cheerfully, and responded "I also go to that school, but I'm in sixth grade."

"Oh, that's pretty cool. I'm surprised I haven't seen you in the hallways or something" Equ stated, and she just shrugged her shoulder, causing her hair to be brushed behind her. Equ gripped the blankets even harder, gulping a little at the beauty of it all.

"Maybe it's because you can't see very well behind those silly shades!" she teased, and he shrugged, immediately going on the defensive.

"I don't want people to worry about me. I don't get a lot of sleep-"

"Why don't you get a lot of sleep?" she interjected, and the smile disappeared from her face to be replaced by a look of worry. She had barely known him for more than five minutes, why was she worried? He doubted he had that good of a first impression.

"I-it's just that beds are uncomfortable, they're too warm."

"And that's why he probably sleeps naked" Equ's brother cut in, and Equius flushed, blood rushing to his face. He cleared his throat and looked away, and his brother just laughed.

"Well that wasn't very nice! You should be ashamed of yourself" Equius heard Aradia say, and he turned around to see her glaring at his little brother.

"Why should I be ashamed? He's nothing, as he's always been. It's his fault that mom and dad died." uncle put his hand on his little brother's shoulder, but he just shrugged it off, leaving a bruise on uncle's hand. Of course, he must have had the disease as well.

"I think it would be best if we left junior" their uncle said softly, nursing his own hand. His brother just got up and left the room, leaving Aradia a little stunned. Equius just sighed and lowered his head.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did you do?" Aradia asked carefully, and Equius glared at the wall.

"I tried to let them escape, but they just stood there. I should have done it better, I should have told them to run. I should have given them warning; I shouldn't have let them die." Equius's voice was cracking, and he felt sobs rise in his chest. He was about to forcibly push the tears back, when an unfamiliar touch enveloped him.

He looked over to see Aradia hugging him. Both of his arms were awkwardly in the air, and he was perspiring buckets as he was waging war on what to do in his head. "It wasn't your fault; it was those gang members' faults. Please don't think that?" He was unsure what to do, but he placed his hands on her back gently.

"Wh-why do you care?" he grunted out, and she shifted so that her face was smiling up at him, her brown eyes closed.

"Because, we're friends now aren't we?" It was more of a statement than a question, but still Equius nodded, and she moved away from him. He put his hands back on his lap, but his fingers were twitching a little. She looked a little antsy now, and she shifted from side to side, looking around the room. Equius observed his surroundings for the first time as well, and noted the hanging TV that was in front of his bed. His bed was beside a long glass window that overlooked the city that the hospital was located in, and on the ledge was a tall glass of flowers.

He smiled at the flowers and looked back at Aradia. Behind her was indigo wallpaper, which was framed by white. The red on her jacket was a sharp contrast, and he liked how it made her stand out from the gloominess. Past the few chairs was the door that his uncle and brother had exited what seemed like hours ago, and it was a light brown with a window that showed the painfully dull hospital hallway outside. Beside this door was a clock, which its time had Aradia's eyebrow furrow with worry.

"Oh no, I've got to go. If I'm late Vriska will kill me, literally." She got up and rushed to leave, but Equius caught her hand. She spun around to look at him, but he had withdrawn his hand, and was holding it. He was shaking like a leaf, and cursing himself to death in his mind. What if he had hurt her? What if she hated him now, like everyone else? But no bruise appeared, for he had grabbed her almost too gently for her to notice, and she was staring at him confused. Why was he freaking out so much?

"I'm so sorry! Please, I didn't mean it! I'm so sorry!" He basically shouted at her, and she flinched a little, and tugged a piece of her hair, unsure what to do.

"Um, it's alright, chill Equ. What did you need?" she asked kindly, and he bit his lip.

"I just…um…you'll come back right?" he hated how pathetic he sounded, but he didn't want to lose her, even though he just met her.

"Of course silly, we're friends aren't we?" she asked, and Equius smiled before nodding. She was going to come back! He was going to see her again! He could barely contain his happiness. "Well I've got to go, see you later Equius!" She spun around once more and exited into the hallway. Equius felt a tugging in his chest that felt unnatural to say the least, and he placed his shaking hand over his heart before lying back against the comfortable pillows that cushioned his head.

Several weeks passed, and Equius had to stay in the hospital throughout all of them, because he had a fractured skull and ribs, but nothing too serious that couldn't heal. The doctors always reminded him that he was lucky that he was still alive, but he never felt lucky until she came. If he died he could never have seen her, talked to her, gotten to know the little he knew about her. All he knew about her was that she loved the color red, she liked stargazing, and she loved to play games online. Equius played a few, and when his uncle brought his laptop, they she brought hers and they played together.

His brother never came anymore, and Equius could only guess why. His uncle came every so often, but most of the time Equius just played online with Aradia or one of her friends she introduced him to. He was currently playing with a dwarf hunter when he stopped. Equius wanted to ask what was wrong, but then he noticed that Aradia had gotten offline. Soon afterwards her friend, Tavros Nitram, logged off, and Equius was left alone with one name on his friend's list.

He had a link to his pester chum on his profile, and Equius checked it out. 'terminallyCapricious'. Well, Equius had to give him points for originality. He portaled near this guy's location, and was instantly welcomed by a barrage of random uncalculated attacks that lit up his screen. He moved his avatar away to see the man destroy a dragon that Equius portaled in front of. Equius blinked and looked the man up and down. He had clown face paint, and pushy black hair. He had no armor on, but his weapons looked beyond powerful. They were two things that looked like bowling pins, but had an eerie purple light to both of them.

Equius stared in awe, and noted that the man's name was Gamzee Makara. He followed the man around for quite a while, obscenely impressed by his abilities until he heard the familiar opening of the door to his hospital room. He looked up to see Aradia with a small boy with a Mohawk in a wheel chair, walk in beside his doctor. His uncle followed suit, smiling warmly at him.

"Hey Equ, looks like you're all checked out!" Aradia announced happily, and Equius closed his lap top so he could pay more attention. The small boy smiled and waved a little.

"I…um….I'm Tavros…" he was really quiet, and mumbled it, color filling up his cheeks. Equius nodded at him. The doctor told them a few things, and before Equius knew it, he was chatting happily with Aradia, who was pushing Tavros in his wheel chair, as they walked out of the hospital.

"Tavros was at my house when the hospital called, I dragged him all the way out here to meet you!"

"Well um, I guess that was nice of you to come Tavros." Equ was a little nervous around this boy. He just looked so fragile, and a little scared of him.

"I-it's no problem. H-hey, you play Alternia right?" Tavros asked, and when Equius nodded he visibly lit up. "You have to sit at our table then! Aradia told me how you go to our school, and already a few seventh graders sit with us."

"We're just one big family!" Aradia piqued in, and Equius shrugged. Aradia took that as a yes and giggled at him. They drove home together in his uncle's minivan, which was strange since his uncle never had children, and then they were dropped off just too soon. Equius waved goodbye to them, and even helped Tavros get out, and was glad to have two friends. He dropped them off at Tavros's house, from what they said, and Equius couldn't help but wonder what Aradia's house looked like. Probably a mansion, that would fit her just nicely he guessed.

It was the next day, and Equius was forced to go to school by the fussing nanny that his uncle had bought for him and his little brother. It was a quick rush to school, sitting in the limousine as he read over his homework, and he clambered out of the long car with his heavy backpack drooping across his shoulders. Most people avoided him like normal, and he just headed up the stairs and to his first class like any other day, but he was stopped by a familiar face.

"See Sollux, I wasn't lying about the hospital. This is Equius." Equius turned around to see Aradia walking with an Asian boy. He had 3D glasses over his eyes, and he had short and spiky hair. He was thin and lanky, and barely as tall as Aradia. Equius tilted his head at the boy, who just shrugged and looked back at Aradia.

"He doesn't look like he was in the hospital AA." Equius felt his hand tighten on his backpack's strap, and let it leave his hands gently as he sighed. He passed the two who were playfully arguing, and said hello to Aradia as he passed. Sollux, or whoever it was, glared at him until he was out of sight, and changed the subject with Aradia, discussing Alternia. Aradia of course brought him up again, saying how Equ had started playing Alternia, and that he was really good at it, and Sollux decided instead of fighting with her, just to remain quiet as she rambled.

Equ went up the hallways as usual and then came face to face with Tavros. Well, sort of. Tavros was hanging from a locker, where he was latched onto by his underwear. His useless legs dangled below him, and Tavros smiled wide when he realized it was Equius. "Y-you would th-think they should know that this…uh…wedgie thing…really doesn't affect me." Equius barked out a laugh and helped his little friend down, before looking for a wheelchair. He quickly found it off to the side, and ran to go get it before returning it to the rightful owner, who plunked down in it.

"Tavvy! Are you alright!" a girl from somewhere shouted, and he looked up to see a girl with a cat hat and a long green jacket run up and hiss at him. She had bright neon green eyes, and brown hair that curled underneath her weird blue cat hat, as well as little dark green fingerless gloves that barely peaked out from underneath the jacket's too big sleeves. "Why don't you paw at someone your own size you big flea bag!" she shouted, and Equius blinked and stood there like an idiot, not knowing what to do.

"I was just helping him down from the locker…" Equius stated, but he was immediately butted out of the way by a new girl. She had raven black hair that stuck out before it reached her neck, and she was wearing neon red glasses that were anything but dull. She had on a black band t-shirt as well as jeans, and she was brandishing a white cane with a dragon head.

"Likely story!" she shouted in the wrong direction. It didn't take Equius long to realize she was blind. "Now I think we need some actual evidence to prove that you didn't just bully our good friend Tavros here."

"I-I can v-vouch-"Tavros mumbled, but the girl hit him square in the temple with her cane by accident.

"Be quiet Tavros, he might have threatened you with even more violence!"

"That you haven't caused?" came a new voice, and a slouched boy in a gray jacket with gray eyes appeared. His hair was brown, but it was dyed black and it spiked out sloppily in random directions.

"Objection overruled! I think we need a team of experts here to examine the evidence!" She stuck her hand into a nearby open locker, and withdrew 3 dragon plush dolls "Scalemate team to the rescue!"

"Dear god, someone stop her." The boy said, and Equius tried to slink away but ran into someone behind him. He jumped and he was pushed, so he collided with the ground.

"Watch where you're going" came a familiar voice, and as the people he didn't know argued, he stood up next to his friend Eridan. "Now what the glub did you get yourself into?"

"I don't know, and I don't want to know. Can we just leave?" Equius asked, but Eridan went up to the four.

"Terezi, what the glub are you doing?" Eridan asked, and Equius was surprised he knew her.

"Another suspect!" with that she brought down her cane on his temple as well and he laid knocked out on the ground.

"Terezi would you fucking stop that!" the grumpy boy yelled, and Terezi just laughed a crackling, ear splitting laugh.

"Lighten up Karkles! This is a crime-scene; I don't think it could be any better than this!"

"If you don't stop it will be an actual fucking crime scene, fuckass."

"Language Karkitty!" the girl in the cat hat corrected, and the grumpy boy face palmed.

"Hey motherfuckers, I beat those bullies who put poor little Tavbro up on that locker all embarrassingly like, but I thought I should all up and warn you that a teacher is like coming around that corner." Equius turned to see the new voice coming from a tall African American boy with bushy black hair and weird clown make up. He had baggy pants with light purple dots over the fabric, and he had a weird shirt with a unicorn on it.

Just as quickly as they had all gathered, they had all disappeared. Soon, the entire hallway was empty and Equius was alone next to the knocked out body of Eridan. Like promised, a teacher came around the corner, and he looked said teacher up and down, before slinking off with her, headed to detention.


	4. 33 ac sniffs at her new furend

Nepeta sighed, seeing that only Vriska was online. She might as well role-play with her, even though out of all of her friends, Vriska was the one she wanted to talk to least. At least Gamzee was funny and always a big brother figure for her. She had gotten over her coldness towards him, and now he was one of the closer friends she had, but not nearly as close as Tavros, Aradia, and especially not Karkitty. She clicked Vriska's name on her friends list, and was rewarded with a chat symbol popping up. She turned on her headset, and spoke to the other girl through the mic.

"Hey Vriska, it's me Nepeta." She waited a little while for the other girl to respond, but she finally did.

"Why hello there Nep, what brings your chat logo onto my screen? Would you like to have a duel?" Nepeta gulped and responded shakily.

"Um, I'd rather not, but I'll train with you until Terezi gets online."

"That sounds good, anything else besides that?" Vriska asked, and Nepeta shrugged, before realizing that Vriska couldn't exactly see her shrug over the headset.

"Well, it's been a furew meownths since you guys came to middle school…and I was wondering something…"

"What exactly happened to Terezi's eyesight, Tavros's legs, and my arm?" Vriska finished for her, and she gulped, feeling immediately guilty. She picked up the small cat figurine on her desk, and played it through her fingers as she responded.

"You guys seemed to have withheld it from me for some reason…" she spoke into her headset, and was surprised when Vriska's avatar ported to where she was. She jumped back in her seat before relaxing as Vriska sat her character, a thief, on a rock nearby. Nepeta followed in suit and sat her rouge across from her.

"Well it's for good reason; I went a little bit crazy. Terezi got revenge to say the least, but I wish I hadn't done to her what I did."

"Oh really Vriska? I guess I was wrong about you! Maybe there's hope for you yet!" a new, scraggly voice interrupted. In a second, Terezi's avatar, a seer, appeared. She stood there overlooking both of them. Nepeta always thought it was sort of ironic that she was a seer, when she was blind in actuality, but she never said anything. Terezi could play from the sounds insinuating from the screen, that and she never played alone. Nepeta did a quick check and realized that Aradia and Tavros were also online, and they didn't take long to arrive as well.

"Well, looks like we have a party here." Vriska spat slightly annoyed "At least everyone that was in these certain events is here."

"If you're telling her, you can't expect us to not come!" Terezi laughed that weird laugh of hers, and Vriska snorted in her head set.

"Of course not, shall I start or do any of you have something you want to add?" everyone stayed silent, except for Terezi who was having a strange laughing fit, so Vriska just continued. "Well it basically all started when Tavros here wanted to be my friend, since we were in the same class together. I guess I manipulated him, until I eventually broke him. He's just so weak, even now" Tavros whimpered into his mic, and Nepeta was relieved that she hadn't been friends with Vriska, and escaped that fate.

"Well, we were walking up the stairs one day, and I was in a pretty foul mood, and he kept talking about stupid Peter Pan. I, of course, eventually had enough of this, and I asked him if he wanted to fly like Peter Pan. So, I became Tinker Bell in a way."

"Meaning, she basically pushed him down the stairs, and his legs got caught in the railing and basically they're useless now" Aradia cut in and Nepeta shivered. She never liked gross stories about that stuff, but she guessed that answered what happened to Tav.

"Yeah, basically." Vriska said, and the smirk was almost visible in Nepeta's mind. "Well, after that event Tavros went to the hospital, and Aradia was peeved at me."

"To say the least" Terezi snickered, but Vriska just ignored her.

"Terezi told me she tried to stop Aradia, but a few days later it's her that walks up to me on my own little spot beside the school. There's cool spiders there, what can I say? So anyways, I'm standing there, innocently inspecting a black widow. I already felt bad enough for what I did, and Aradia just comes up and grabs me by the shoulders, pinning me back against the wall. I shove her away, defending myself, and she just starts shouting that I shouldn't have done that and exactly what Tav's condition means. I already know all this, and I don't want someone making me feel worse about it, so I shove her away from me again. She stumbles and falls on the ground, and the sun is just above us, because it's spring and the weather is getting ready for summer. She shields her eyes, and here comes Terezi, thinking I sunk as low as to resort to violence."

"You already know you're low enough for that." Terezi growled and Vriska snickered.

"Plus, I wasn't being that awful. I was just trying to make you see the error of your ways" Aradia shot in, and Vriska just made a sound that sounded like she was blowing hair away from her eyes.

"May I get back to my story?"

"Wait! I want to tell this part!" Nepeta could practically see Terezi jumping up and down in her seat, and Vriska remained silent, allowing Terezi to continue. "Well, I saw Aradia cowering, so I just basically make a quick decision that her wickedness must have turned against Aradia as well. In my opinion, it wasn't fair for the school to even let her stay in class after what she had done to Tavros, but they just passed it off as a lame accident. I mean, what fun is that? So I run up, and push her down, but I don't see the hill behind her. She falls down, and right in the way of a lawnmower. She apparently hit one of her eyes on a stick as well, rendering it useless. There was so much blood that I don't even blink during a horror movie anymore, mainly because I can't even see it!"

"Another blind joke, I'm just dying of laughter over here." Vriska said bitterly, and Terezi cackled.

"Really, can I come over to investigate?" Terezi returned, but before Vriska could respond, Nepeta interrupted.

"So, yopur arm was caught under the lawnmeower and there was a lot of blood. Meow'd you go blind?" Nepeta asked, now jumping in her seat.

"Well, um…Vriska and I got back into school the next year…all I know is Vriska got Sollux to break up with Aradia…and Vriska said something to Terezi to make her go blind. I-I don't know what, I'm sorry." Tavros mumbled through the mic, and Nepeta felt for him.

"She got Sollux to break up with me by spreading some stupid rumor. I've never dated some random older guy thank you very much." Aradia growled out, and Terezi giggled.

"What about that new guy that was at the crime scene yesterday? Nubby told me he was some older guy."

"He's just a friend that I helped to the hospital, nothing more." Aradia said in a monotone voice that was almost characteristic to her. Vriska snickered and Nepeta rolled her eyes, tapping her foot on her floor. She was getting bored quickly.

"Pawrry, not to be purrude, but what happened to make you go blind, Terezi?" Nepeta asked again, giving the specific person this time.

"She told me something that was just too true. She said that looking up at a solar eclipse and seeing the light streaming out from behind the moon would be the color of true red. I saw it, and the effects were definitely worth it. Not only did I actually see true red, Karkat helped me throughout the whole ordeal. I got way closer to him, and if I could actually bring myself to do it, I would actually thank Vriska for it." Nepeta nodded to herself. She remembered overhearing Terezi animatedly talking about how there was such a thing as true red, and she would give anything to see it.

"Why, it was no trouble at all. You did get my arm caught under a lawnmower, and a stick in my eye. Honestly, it's the least I can do to repay you." Vriska spat, and Terezi cackled.

"Why would you say no problem? I said if I could bring myself to do it, and I'm a long ways off from that."

"I'm fairly sure there's a word for slow people like you, or should I talk a little more clearly to get coherent sentences through your mind?" Terezi growled "Oh I'm sorry! Coherent must be too big of a word for you, I have to resort to your monkey language."

Terezi and Vriska shot insults back and forth at each other. Nepeta, Tavros, and Aradia just watched as the fight turned into duel, and Aradia went away from keyboard to help Terezi with the duel. Nepeta was still a little shaken over what Terezi had said, and she mumbled a lame excuse to go into her headset.

"My mom is taking me to the store. I don't know why she's taking me, but she wants me to go." Of course her mother didn't want her to go anywhere. Her mother had been wandering in a stupor every day she had gotten home from work ever since news of Nepeta's father had reached them.

"Wait Nep, um, meeting at the clubhouse or something. Eridan said he wants to introduce two new people to us or, um, something. Just be there, like, tomorrow, um, I'll get Aradia to text you about it."

"Alright, cat-ch you later Tav." Nepeta called before logging off the game. She had the whole weekend to do whatever she wanted, but she just returned to her TV where Netflix was running. She clicked Tangled, and watched the screen, squealing to herself at some parts. Though, eventually, she fell asleep on her bed, still hugging the pillow she had been hugging since the movie had started.

'Be at the clubh0use at f0ur.'

Nepeta sighed, and tucked the phone back into her pocket before looking into the vast expanse of woods she had to cover. It wasn't that often that she had to walk along this path, but she rather not run into the lady who lived a few houses down's dog again. She still had the small bite marks from the seemingly innocent Chihuahua to remind her never to stray down there again. Well, here goes nothing. She proceeded down the long winding path through the forest, a little discontent at any rustling of leaves she heard. Eventually she heard a voice, and saw three figures join the path a couple of yards in front of her.

It took her a while, but she recognized the purple scarf and leapt forward to tackle her friend Eridan "Hehe, hi Eridan!"

"Wah! What the glub is your proble- ugh, just never mind. Get off Nep." Nepeta obliged, and let two pairs hands help Eridan up. She didn't recognize either of them, but she decided that perhaps they were the new people that Eridan wanted to introduce.

"Well, I didn't expect that!" One giggled, and put her ornamented hand over her mouth as she did. Nepeta thought it was strange that she was wearing goggles, but Nepeta thought the purple goggles looked nice on her. She was also wearing a pink and green skirt with a yellow tassel. Nepeta liked that as well, and thought it might have been something that Terezi and Kanaya collaborated to create. Besides that, she had long black hair and the same skin color as Gamzee, but slightly lighter.

"Yes, quite unexpected…" Nepeta looked up at the other person, and instantly wanted to try on his dark shades. She thought she would look super fly in them. She pounced on him next, and they landed together on the leaves. The bright green leaves blew up on either side of them, and Nepeta smiled down at him, pinning him with her legs. Nepeta's cat like qualities kicked in and she started running her fingers through his hair. He started to sweat profusely and Nep's nose crinkled in the confusing smell.

"Hehehe, you have nice hair! Can I try on your shades?" She grinned playfully at him, and he looked away, unsure of what to do. Nepeta took that as a signal to play and tugged off his glasses to put on her eyes. She immediately jumped up and did several poses, putting on a mini fashion show for all three of them.

"Hehe, I've never seen someone do that to someone like you, Equ!" The other girl snickered and Nepeta of course responded.

"Of course not, because I'm a cool kid." She flexed her arms, showing off her nonexistent muscles. "I'm too strong for anyone to mess with me. Raaaaaaaah!"

"Aw come on, I don't do that!" The boy said in a whispery tone, and Nepeta just laughed at him before tossing her hat to him.

"Lighten up silly Billy!" She smiled her usual goofy smile at him, and he just stared at her, confused.

"Um…" he put on the hat like a good boy, and got on his hands and knees "…meow?" Nepeta couldn't resist this chance and jumped on the strangers back. She laughed and pointed in the direction of the clubhouse.

"Charge, my noble steed!" She put his glasses back on him, but left her hat on top of his head. He paused for a minute and looped his arms under her legs so gently that Nepeta thought she was going to slip and fall at first, and he just as gently rose to carry her on piggy back.

"Hehehe, this is entertaining to see the least!" come the voice of the other girl "My name is Feferi, by the way."

"And I doubt it would matter to you, since you're already riding on his back, but that's Equius" Eridan stated grumpily fixing his hair from when Nepeta had tackled him.

"Hehe, hi Equius, my name is Nepeta!" she hugged his neck from where she was already holding his shoulders, and he just sweat even more. Nepeta thought it was a little weird, but then again, which one of her friends wasn't weird in their own way? Weird was cool in Nepeta's book.

"Uh…hi I believe is the appropriate response." His voice was quiet and whispery, it made Nepeta giggle. They proceeded to their destination, chit-chattering on the way. Feferi was apparently Eridan's friend for a long time, but he was too shy to introduce her to their group. Nepeta explained how Eridan was introduced to the group by Gamzee, and Equius surprised her with a point of inquiry. "Gamzee plays Alternia, right?" Nepeta stared off into the woods, thinking about Gamzee's strange character on the game.

"Yeah, the meanie-butt already purrassed us a lot on levels. He's a bard, I Burmese." Nepeta responded, and Equius looked up a little, thinking over the answer.

"Burmese?" he asked.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I meant to say believe, cat puns just slip out sometimes." Nepeta rubbed the back of her head and closed her eyes apologetically, which didn't make much sense since Equius couldn't even see her.

"I feel like I'm walking alongside a silly Romantic Comedy! It's fishanating!" Feferi squealed and Nepeta giggled.

"She means fascinating" Eridan corrected, Feferi playfully shoved him, and struck up a new conversation about how Eridan always did that. They continued on for a while like that. Feferi would randomly talk about everything from the sky to the leaves that were glowing green on the trees. Nepeta really liked Feferi, and thought fur sure they would be friends forever! Wait…fur sure…she was even using cat puns in her thoughts. Nepeta punched the top of her hair, scolding herself, but Equius noticed and raised his head again. Nepeta knew whenever he did this because she was leaning of her arm on top of his head.

"That was a random Canter" he said, and immediately went silent, grunting to himself. Nepeta almost fell off his back from her laughing.

"You make horse puruns! That's afurable!" She purposely put in some cat puns, which made him chuckle. Nepeta was a little surprised at the random laughter, but quickly decided she liked his laugh too. If she liked him anymore, she was sure to have a new tea party buddy.

Soon enough though, they exited the woods to a more worn-down neighborhood. The houses looked more like tin shacks, with metal roofs and wire fences around almost all yards. The yards themselves though weren't worthy of protection, because they were overrun with weeds and random splotches of yellow and brown. Nepeta always liked to get through this part as quickly as possible, and jumped down from Equius's back to lead everyone the quickest way.

They made their way through the rundown neighborhood, until they got to one house with a dull gray mailbox that looked like it had been smashed with a baseball bat a few times. Nepeta made a quick turn, and jumped over the short wire fence instead of opening it.

"This isn't a respectable neighborhood…are you sure we should be here?" Equius sounded stranger, more revolted. Nepeta looked back at him with a confused look as he opened the gate for Eridan and Feferi. They passed him, and he closed it behind them, before Eridan took the lead as they all started to head to the back of the house.

"I guess it is, but it's not that pad. Whoopsies, another cat prun, hehehe." Nepeta giggled, and was ignorant towards Equius's now guarded stature. They stepped into the backyard, and saying it was huge was an understatement. For such a small structure, it had a huge property, and way in the back was a shed that was almost half as large as the house, and made with the same rusty materials. The four walked to it, and Nepeta opened up the door and with only one glance around the room, launched herself at Karkitty. He was propelled off the dusty couch by her, and they hit the ground together, Nepeta sitting on his back. He was once sitting on the couch beside Terezi and Gamzee, and with the remote out of his hands; Terezi won the game they were playing. She let out an excited shriek and high-fived Dave behind her.

Karkat of course pushed her off, and she sat on the arm of the couch that Gamzee, Terezi, and Karkat were sitting on (she more of perched on it, sitting Indian style with her arms outstretched while she gripped her feet). This is, of course, the perfect cat position, and she let everyone know it, sitting proud in her feline style. Equius sat beside her on the ground, quietly not wishing to disturb anyone, and Nepeta just giggled as Karkat let out a string of curses as he sat back down grumpily. His gamer rage was ever present, especially when he was playing with Terezi. He hated it when people helped the person he was playing against, because he knew it was because they wanted him to lose in the end, but he had to contain his rage whenever he battled her, because well, she was blind.

Though, Dave and John were making his anger spiral to unthinkable ends. They were leaning their arms against the couch on either side of Terezi, Dave of course away from Gamzee since the boy always sent glares his way since he called him a juggalo. Not only were they helping Terezi through every move, but they were purposely doing it just so Karkat would never win. Every button he pressed was told to her, and every cheap attack or sneaky move was annoyingly made fun of. Gamzee, beside the action, barely kept up with it, just sipping his Faygo and marveling at the colors flashing on the TV, although it was small.

Nepeta watched as Feferi sat on the floor to the left of the TV, to be welcomed by Jade who was currently sitting there, marveling at the screen, much like Gamzee. Nepeta's gaze drifted across the room, accounting for everyone. Tavros was leaning against Gamzee's legs, though Gamzee barely seemed to notice, and Rose and Kanaya were sharing the loveseat that was to the left of the long couch that faced the TV. Across from the loveseat, Aradia and Sollux were sharing a seat, but not romantically in the least. They just sat beside each other, sort of squished together by the limited space, but they didn't care. The single chair was closer to the TV, and there was room between it and the large couch, which Vriska currently took up, sitting backwards in a black computer chair. Nepeta giggled, thinking she didn't look very lady-like. Eridan was of course being a loner, and was in the back of the single room in the shed, leaning against the wall and playing on his laptop. He never did like the crowds of people.

Of course, maybe he should have introduced the two newcomers, but that rarely happened with this group. Anyone who was introduced was almost immediately mixed in with their own social standing within the group. What really made all of the group social statuses and relationships remotely understandable was Karkat and Terezi's confusing system of symbols. Nepeta thought through them for a moment, and felt heat rush to her cheeks. Would Equius be a good Morail or even a Matesprit for her? She grinned a little to herself, but lost her train of dilutions when Karkat let out another cursing streak.

"It's all because of you two fuckasses that I keep fucking loosing! Go fuck fucking buckets you assmunchers!" John laughed, and then accidently snorted. He immediately covered his mouth shyly, and he and Dave exchanged a look before they were both on the ground laughing their butts off.

"Because you are just as cool as a cucumber Davie pie" Jade chuckled to herself, and pushed up her large round glasses.

"More like as cool as a warm summer day." Rose teased and Kanaya beside her giggled.

"Cooler than you'll ever be Rosie pie and thank you for noting my wicked beats that I lay just by laughing with my bro." Dave tilted his head at Jade who smiled and shooed him off with her hand. Terezi growled and brought her control up above her head so quickly, that it whacked Dave right in the forehead. He thumped back on the ground behind the couch, releasing several more snorts from John. Karkat made a noise that sounded like he would laugh, but he never laughs. Terezi cackled at the loud thump.

"Sorry, but without eyes, it's hard to focus with your jibber-jabbing. Damn it, fuck you Karkles!" At hearing the usual music for a loss, she shoved him and Karkat's head rammed Nepeta in the side. She squealed and fell off the side of the couch, landing, confused, on Equius's lap. He put his hands back behind him and blushed profusely, starting to sweat. Nepeta got up and gave him a weird look, but he just looked away.

"Hahaha, upset that I won?" It was of course a fake laugh, but Karkat was beaming proudly. Terezi hated his arrogant voice and tackled him. It was only a short while before she decided to make his torture worse by tickling him. He was forced to laugh, which made most of the room chuckle as they all watched, none moving to help. Jade couldn't resist and joined. Feferi, having her companion abandon her, started to chit-chat with Rose and Kanaya.

"Someone is just a big cry baby about losing, huh?" Vriska teased, per usual, but Terezi just grinned up at her dangerously.

"Oh Vriska, you look so bored, I would hate for you to miss out!" With that she tugged the chair out from under the other girl and pounced. They scuffled across the floor, and Equius backed up a little from the cat fight.

Karkat had gotten up and was running away from Jade, just to be tripped by John. Nepeta left Equius's side to go and pounce on Karkat's legs. John joined her and sat on his back, flattening the boy underneath. Apparently Eridan had had enough of being left out, and had started a fight with Sollux, who just made snarky comments at him as usual. Feferi complained at him that he was embarrassing her, and Nepeta giggled. Aradia was having a hard time keeping them apart, and Feferi was forced to help. Jade was soon with Nepeta and John, tickling Karkat again, who was squirming underneath Nepeta's butt. Dave soon woke up from his coma of sorts and joined Jade in the tickling fest.

Gamzee was still in his spot, but was now playing the video game with Tavros, who had stolen Terezi's spot. Nepeta lost sight of Equius, and giggled at seeing that Eridan was using him as a meat shield as Sollux started throwing stuff at him. Rose and Kanaya had their feet up on the loveseat, as to not get anything scratched by the non-surprising fights that were happening around the room. But sooner rather than later, everything was finished, and it seemed like Equius and Feferi had been part of their group forever as all of her friends started to file out.

Nepeta didn't know how anything was resolved, but they always were by the end of the day. She had asked to walk home with Equius when everyone was leaving, and was riding on his back through the warm spring night. She wondered how this year had gone by so fast, but then again everything that was actually fun never seemed to last long. She missed everything because she had been alone all those years, and now not only did she have Karkat back, but she had everyone, plus this new boy, new friend, that she certainly had best of friend feelings for. In fact, she was certain that he was going to be forced to come to her next tea party.

Nepeta growled to herself when she realized that they had gotten to the part where the road split. Nepeta could see tracks in the ground to tell her that Feferi and Eridan must have passed by this way not too long ago. Nepeta was always good with tracks, anything that involved animals, to be honest. Animals were always loyal and kind, and never left her. That was more than she could say for people, but she enjoyed the friends she had currently, even though in the back of her mind she knew that nothing ever lasted long.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye. You'll come to the rest of the meetings, right?" Nepeta asked, jumping down from his back. He looked confused for a moment before smiling down at her.

"Yeah, that's right. I'll sit with you guys, too." Neither of them said or did anything but smile at one another before they both looked down awkwardly at the same time, Nepeta rubbing her arm. "Oh." he said quickly, and she looked up to see him taking off her cat hat "I forgot I was wearing this, here you go."

She took it back and thanked him, putting it back on her own head. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him quickly. She didn't feel his arms back, so of course he lifted his arms, unsure of what to do. Was he never hugged before? Nepeta giggled at the thought, and retreated once she felt that he started to get sweaty again. With that, she ran into the woods with a goodbye echoing behind her.


	5. D canter be

Equius didn't like the noisy classroom, especially when they had free time to do whatever. In fact, he hated it, especially the annoying Feferi who always tried to chat with him about everything ever since this morning. In fact, this morning was a nightmare. He was happy to sit next to Eridan and his friends, who, during other mornings, he avoided like the plague. It was just too many people in one sitting, and Equius preferred to be alone. So he sat next to Eridan, and he was almost instantly bombarded by the strange people he watched at the club house. Sollux had tried to get at Eridan, shoving Equius who was in between them practically into Eridan's lap, and Nepeta, Feferi, and even Aradia started going through his things, marveling at how expensive his calculator was or something like that. Didn't Aradia already know his family was wealthy?

He was practically running through the halls at the thought of the chance at meeting one of them once more. He rather not have been bombarded on all sides as well as being laughed and teased until he was practically sweating buckets. Buckets…that's weird. He never used buckets in his thoughts before, because well…they just seemed gross to him. I guess it was just kind of one of his quirks.

He sighed in relief as soon as he rushed into the library, but that relief vanished when he saw not only Sollux, but Nepeta as well. Sollux was on the computer, using a hack to get to sites that the school originally blocked, but he thought it was child's play to bypass the systems. It impressed Equius thoroughly, but that didn't mean he didn't look down on the strange boy…especially since he seemed to be so close to Aradia. It seemed like they had some unnamed rivalry with each other, but Equius never was the one to pick fights.

Nepeta on the other hand had her nose buried in a book, and from the cover Equius knew it was one of the notorious Warriors series. He could only imagine how into it she was, but it none the less surprised him that she still read such childish books. But then again, it did fit her personality. Equius was going to exit the library quietly, or hide in a corner to read a book about robotics, but she put the book down to cup her hands over her mouth and squeal, kicking her legs in excitement. A librarian nearby shushed her from where she was sitting on her desk, and Nepeta rubbed the back of her covered head as she apologized, but she barely meant it because she had laid eyes on Equius.

She waved him over ecstatically, and as to not offend her, or so he told himself, he made his way over and sat opposite her. "Someone was uber pooper grrrrumpy this morning Equikinz! That's your new nickname by the way! Jade helped me think of it! I think it's purrrrrfect!"

"That's um gallop" Equius said quietly, stretching his arm out to pick up the books that sat beside Nepeta. Most of them were about cats, some way or another, but he finally found a classic, and one of his favorite books, Black Beauty.

"Gallop? What's that supurrsed to mean?" Nepeta asked with a small giggle in her voice.

"Good I guess. Why are you here instead of in your class?" Her smile softened until the point where it looked forced. Equius instantly regretted asking her anything, even though the question wasn't meant to offend. She looked up at him with dull eyes that didn't contain their usual spark of happiness, and it almost made Equius feel sick.

"Karkitty wanted to talk to Gamzee, and when I tried to talk to them…they didn't want me to. I didn't want to be a pesky feline so I became a lone cat. Because lone cats are just so cool, and that's the only reason! I'm sure that Karkitty will talk to me in less than two shakes of a cat's tail!" Her face instantly brightened, and Equius felt relief, but more so she felt sorrow. Who would make such a happy creature such as Nepeta so sad like that? He wasn't about to promise anything to himself, but he felt like he should help her cheer up somehow.

"Um…would you like to err…go outside? We can walk around the track until lunch. It's not like we don't have passes to be out of class." Equius shrugged, putting the book back.

"Oh that would be furrabulous!" She jumped up, and Equius actually leaked out a soft smile as he saw the spark back in her eyes. He calmly got up and walked beside her small skipping body as they walked out of the library and down the white hallways. Equius hated the indoors, and longed to get outside, especially in the bright afternoon sun. It was rare that he got sun, but when he did he relished it. Equius looked over at Nepeta whose skin was lightly tanned from sun exposure. She was looking in front of them with her bright, almost lime green eyes, and she was smiling goofily. She had one sharp tooth that bit her lip almost all the time, and she had a tiny nose that looked like it should be on a cat. Her curls had started to get lighter, and even though he has only met her yesterday, it was still clearly visible. She had on her long green coat, even though Equius thought that she must be stifling in it, and it was kind of ratty, and looked like it should have been worn by a man as tall as Equius, but he felt like he shouldn't question it.

He was studying her light blue cat hat that had a few dark blotches where stains might have damaged the surface when they both stepped outside. Cool air and the blazing sun hit them at the same time, and he saw Nepeta sneeze. He looked away from her and said "bless you" politely before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small towel. He had managed not to wipe his sweat today, so it was clean, but it had a small bit of oil stains around the edges of its white surface from where he had used it to clean his masterpieces. He handed it to Nepeta carefully, and she smiled before blowing her nose on it.

"Sorry, I have stupid allegrrrries this time of year." She handed back his towel, and he put it back in his pocket. She giggled again, and he looked back at her to see one of her hands over her small little mouth as she stifled another one of her giggles. "You're the only guy I kneow who carries around a towel in his pocket! Purrus, what was that black stuff on it?"

"Oh…um…it was oil. Yeah, it was oil from one of my err…robots." Equius was starting t realize that she rolled her rs as well as the cat puns. But yet again she tolerated his rare horse puns and whispery voice, so he might as well return the favor.

"You meowke robots? That's so cool!" She animatedly jumped up and down beside him, and he started to sweat a little.

"Err…yeah…it's been a horseby of mine forever." He almost face palmed as he used another horse pun, but Nepeta barely noticed. She swung her arms as she hummed beside him, obviously thinking about something. They got to the track out at the back of school, following the paved road that wound around the building. They were quite content to just walk beside each other in silence for a while, but that silence was pierced by Nepeta.

"Vriska has a prosthetic arm, is that some sort of science with robots?" she asked him, and he almost laughed at how dumb the question was, but he didn't because he knew it would offend her.

"It could be but not my line of robotics. Her arm isn't as advanced as something I would create. It's only used to let her look normal, and its only special feature is that she can bend it at the elbow, which means that it's hooked into her spinal cord and nerves, but it doesn't mean she's able to write with it or feel pain in it."

"Could you be able to do something like that?" She bent over so that Equius could look down at her eyes that looked up at his, instead of looking forward as they walked alongside each other.

"It would take years, and many people don't think it's even possible, but…if I worked hard enough and she was willing to wait years without an arm, even her prosthetic one, I could possibly learn to do it."

"Wow! That's purretty shnazzy" she giggled that giggle of hers that instantly made Equius sweat for reasons he didn't know.

"I guess…hey Nepeta, why do you wear that coat?" he asked, and he wished he went with his gut and didn't ask. She lowered her head, her eyes losing their spark from the small glimpse he got. She immediately perked back up and jumped before taking off the green coat to reveal her jeans and black shirt with nyan cat flying across it. On the back of her belt she had a long blue tail, and she smiled before skipping out in front of Equius, even twirling a few times, having the tail whip out in the air in random directions. Equius noticed that the fingerless gloves were also the same blue as her hat and tail, and smiled a little at knowing she wore his favorite color, be it though unintentional.

"I use it to hide my tail of course! The teachers don't like us furries you see, becats they hate cute things! They would take me into a laboratory and catchop my tail and ears off. That's just not nice." Equius had a feeling, strike that, he knew she was lying, but he rather not say anything to offend her yet again. Why was he so concerned about that anyways?

Equius was instantly taken away from his thoughts as Nepeta reached into his pocket suddenly with her free hand. He not only felt himself sweat loads, but he also blushed furiously. She withdrew her hand with his iPhone, and she wrestled with her coat to retrieve hers as well. Before he could ask what she was doing, she handed his iPhone back to him with a new contact. 'arsenicCatnip' was also there underneath her name, indicating her pesterchum. Her picture was one of a girl with short black hair and little horns that looked like cat ears because they poked out of her hat. On closer inspection, it was the same hat that Nepeta sported.

"That's my catracter in Alternia. I sent the picture from my purone and assigned it to my contact, so you know what she looks like! She's really cute, and Tavros says she also looks a lot like meow. Who kneow that in the shop you can not only buy a blue hat just like meowne, but also a bright green coat like meowne! It's puretty cool."

"That is pretty cool; they have my same glasses as well. I do enjoy them."

"Oh yeah they do have those! I should buy them too and we cat be grasses buddie-" she was cut off by a teachers shriek.

"ALL STUDENTS INSIDE THE BUILDING NOW! GET IN HERE IMMIDIATELY!" She shouted at the top of her lungs and Equius and Nepeta high-tailed it as fast as they could down the path and inside where the teacher was already in the door. They were welcomed by a panicked school, and were whisked away in the crowd of students of all grades. Equius heard Nepeta leave his side, and he just followed the crowd to where they were spilling out in the front of the school.

He saw Feferi, and ran out towards her quickly. She looked worried when he reached her, but he just filed in behind her, wondering what was going on…until he saw the ambulance. It was parked in front of the school, but on the main road that passed in front of it. All Equius could see besides the stretcher being hauled into the back of the ambulance was the pulled over car…and the blood. All there was was rusty red blood sinking into the grass and spread across the road.

He tapped Feferi's shoulder in front of him, and she turned and hugged him immediately. He didn't know what to do so he patted her on the back and looked around, unsure of what to make of this situation. Students glared and walked around him, and Equius noticed tears in some of their eyes. He still had no idea what was happening, so he laid his hand gently on Feferi's shoulder and shook her until she looked up at him.

"What happened?" she sniffled, but in her eyes tears just wouldn't come. She just looked like she was in shock. Equius helped her move forward a little so they could continue in line until the teacher started to count her students. He tried hard not to trip over her colorful skirt, and somehow made it to their place without slipping on it.

"I-it's Aradia." Everything around Equius just fell and he felt like he wasn't standing on anything and no one was leaning on him. He felt dead inside by those two words. He put it all together, and it made sense why Feferi was crying. It was true that Feferi had barely known Aradia for more than a day, but Aradia just had that effect on people. She was quiet, but she was the nicest kindest person and she was gorgeous on top of that. Aradia was perfection put on this Earth…and now she was gone, taken away by a speeding car buzzing down the street.

"It's my entire fault" come a voice from behind him, and he turned to see that Sollux had emerged from the crowd of students and feel to the ground on his knees. Feferi broke away from him and ran to Sollux, patting his back gently as he sobbed into her shoulder. Students weren't in their classes anymore, no matter how hard the teachers tried, and Equius spotted everyone in their group but two people…Nepeta and Vriska.

Karkat and Gamzee were helping Sollux up, but he was still attached to Feferi. Eridan ran up and rubbed the back of his flaming red hair, unsure of what to do. Kanaya looked worried, and her face looked tearstained, and somehow Equius could tell, even with his thick shades, that Dave had been crying. Tavros was on the curb with Rose and Terezi, and he was crying into his arms. He was faced away from the bloody incident with Rose facing the same way as him. Terezi stared at the incident and her face contorted into a snarl before running away. Equius didn't know why, but he instantly followed the raven haired girl.

She rounded the corner of the school, and he pushed through the thick crowds of kids, unnoticed by anyone. He rounded the corner after her, and bolted forward. Vriska had Nepeta pinned up against the wall with her face in hers and her hand around her chin. She had tears in her eye and she was screaming at her at the top of her lungs. It wasn't heard of course by teachers, because they were dealing with the emotional crowd at the front of the school.

Terezi was trying to pull her off, punching her and kicking her, but Vriska barely even noticed her. She was focused on Nepeta and looked like she was having a mental break down. Equius rammed her in the side and she flailed as she skidded across the ground. She got up as quickly as she could and moved forward to attack Equius but he pinned her arms at her sides easily. As he rammed her his glasses fell off onto the concrete, and he now glowered at her with red rimmed eyes, freezing her in her spot. He heard Nepeta sob and gripped her arms even harder.

"I-I didn't mean to. It was an accident I swear! She…she was mad at me because I kissed Tavros and I ran… I didn't know why I ran I didn't know-"She barely got it out between sobs. Equius only momentarily felt sorry for her until he heard Terezi confirm his suspicions.

"You killed her. Stop crying, you're only making your sentence worse."

"Terezi, she didn't mean to-"Nepeta began whilst wiping her eyes, but Terezi cut her off.

"That's just her alibi. If she had the chance she would have killed Aradia, even if she didn't die, she would have. Remember what we told you she did to Tavros? She doesn't deserve to be in school around actual sane people. As soon as the school finds out about this, I hope you get locked up for good."

Vriska turned her head side to side, not knowing what to do or where to go, but then she looked up at Equius. Equius just stared at her sternly, not wanting to hurt her, but knowing that she did deserve it. He hated this girl with a burning passion. Aradia never deserved anything, never deserved to die, and this girl made that impossible reality a fact. She deserved exactly what was coming to her.

Her lip that was blue with shock trembled, and she started to have a wild breakdown. She went lip in his arms and he let her go as she dropped to her knees. Her light blue jacket was ripped up her prosthetic arm, her black hair was unkempt and bushy, and her glasses just barely covered her rotting skin over her eye and the other blue one was closed, but had a stream of mascara dribbling down her sharp cheek bones. She hugged herself and her shoulders bobbed up and down with her sobs. Terezi just stared down at her, disgusted…even though she really couldn't see the pathetic girl below her.

Equius looked at Nepeta and grunted. She was staring in shock at Vriska and her face was covered in heavy wet tears. Equius moved over to her and took her hand as gently as he could. It was so strange to hold someone's hand, but he had to get her away from here somehow. She looked up at him and her eyes got wide and they looked so watery, like two lime green oceans that were drowning her from the inside out. He turned around and offered his back to her, and she jumped on it immediately, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Oh god Equius, what happened…" she whimpered against his shoulder, but instead of answering he started walking away from the school. He walked past the abandoned baseball fields, across the fire station beside the school, and eventually to the path that led to Karkat and his Uncle's house. He supposed that he could calm her down and spent the day with her at his house…he just didn't want to see such a happy girl like this so sad. He also was selfish…and didn't want to be alone after the girl he loved just died.

And I guess that's all he could admit to himself. "The girl I love just died." As soon as he said it Nepeta hugged his neck tightly, but not tight enough that he couldn't breathe.

"The only person who was still really my friend just died. I'm all alone again." She didn't even use a cat pun or roll her rs like usual. Her voice just sounded…deflated.

"Nepeta? Please be happy…I love you being happy. It's beautiful. I've only known you for a day, but your smiles…just keep smiling OK?" Equius said in a rush, his emotions coming to the surface. He was regretting everything in his life. He left Vriska and Terezi back there, and who knows what Vriska can do to the poor blind girl. He had forced Nepeta to cut school, and his Uncle was probably home and would judge him for not only skipping school but bringing who appeared to be a little girl home. But most of all he regretted not stopping Aradia…for not being there.

"Equius, will you be my friend?" Nepeta asked, and Equius was hit with a nervous jolt. He walked in silence, thinking over how desperate and how lonely Nepeta was, and how sad she was when she talked about Karkat. He had seen her interact with the other girls, but just now did he realize how alone she was, and how happy she forced herself to be. The woods ahead of him opened to a field, and the path cut through the grass until it entered the forest on the other side of the woods. He didn't want to walk anymore. He felt drained and tired but most of all just guilty. He stepped off the path to rush over to the center of the field, and he felt Nepeta lower off of his back.

He turned around and watched her sit. Her green jacket was back on, but the collar was up and hid her face which was badly tearstained. Her hands weren't visible under her sleeves and she was hugging her knees close to her body. She buried her face in her knees and her shoulders heaved with sobs as she cried over the recent events.

"Nepeta" Equius said sternly as he sat down beside her. His glasses were gone, so he put up a new mask all on his own. He refused to let tears fall, and his back any type of emotion he wanted to have so badly. "I'll be your friend, as long as you keep smiling for me. I want to protect you, to make you feel happy, just always smile OK?"

Nepeta brightened up a little, and she smiled fully under her tears, having a few leak into her mouth. She launched forward and threw her arms around Equius as she cried into his shoulder. He awkwardly patted her back, not knowing what to do, and they remained like that for a while. Equius settled his hand on her lower back and closed her eyes, and he felt fairly certain she did the same. They breathed in unison until Nepeta let go and sat back on her knees.

"I'm going to miss her so much" Nepeta's lip trembled and a fresh tear ran down her cheek while she was looking down at the grass she was pulling up in her gloved hands.

"I know I'm going to miss her too. She wouldn't want you to be sad though, Aradia…A-Aradia never wants anyone to be sad." He stuttered, and he felt his body trembling. He closed his hands into fists in an attempt to contain himself, but it failed miserably when Nepeta put her hand over his. He looked up into her eyes, which were even brighter with tears and clearer without the shades dulling their sharpness and color. He now related them to the green frame that surrounded the picture of his family that he cherished more than anything in the world. He felt tears well up in his eyes and the two cried and smiled in unison, their hands never leaving each others'.


	6. 33 ac doesn't kneow what to do

**Ok so I haven't had an author's note in a while. I'm so sorry for new readers who were like 'WTF' at the first and fourth chapter...i screwed up...royally...but all is fixed now! I hated doing that to Aradia last chapter, so I apologize if she is your favorite character and you're just like: 'the fuck brah?' yeah...I apologize, but she's not going to be fully dead because well...future chapters ;o) OK so here's this one...I'll try to update this once a week but my old computer's being a butt and i have to wait a while before I get a new lap top...so I might be a little slower. Please comment comment comment, it brings in new readers (knows form experience) so yeah, please comment :D have a wonderfur day everykitty!**

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><p>"I said hi to her today. She just smiled and waved."<p>

"Sollux this isn't healthy…"

"But she's not dead! She waved I swear" Sollux put his head in his hands awkwardly because of his glasses, and his whole body was still shaking. Feferi put her arms around him again, looking at him worriedly, but giving him comforting words to try to calm him down. Karkat, who had just spoken and had broken Sollux's fantasies about Aradia so many times that it felt like a black hole had engulfed his heart, had his arms around his knees as he glared at the wall opposite him.

The day so far had been alright, but Nepeta could barely remember most of it. She didn't even know if she went asleep, because she was just staring at her ceiling when her mother came into her room to tell her that school was canceled. Equius had gotten one of his family's drivers to drop her off at home, and he promised that he would see her tomorrow, and there they were. She was sitting beside him on the small bed at the back of the club house as they watched Sollux break down again and again on the couch, Karkat and Feferi on either side of him, trying to keep his head above water.

"I can handle myself!" Sollux yelled, his grief quickly switching to fury, and Gamzee who had kept quiet as he leaned against the metal wall now stepped forward. He was ready in case anything went wrong, and Nepeta was fairly sure that Equius would be ready as well, though he would protect her mostly.

"Calm down motherfucker, we're just trying to all up and motherfucking help you out" Gamzee drawled out, and Nepeta swore she saw Equius's body twitch. She looked up at him and wished she could see his eyes through his glasses. They had talked all last night about the event, and she was glad to have someone to talk to…someone to finally understand her. She sighed and kicked her feet out of boredom against the two mattresses that made the bed. She watched her feet, frowning as her thoughts drifted away into places she wished they wouldn't go.

Could she have done something? Nepeta thought about it, and wondered what would've happened if she had asked Equius to walk around the building instead of the track, if she could have seen Aradia chasing Vriska and stopped her. She thought about it and thought about it, but eventually her eyes widened as she realized even if she did find them, she couldn't have done anything. Vriska and Aradia are faster than her, plus she is useless and wouldn't even know what to do in that situation, and wouldn't know what was coming. 'Why am I so useless?'

She only realized she was crying when Equius set his hand on her shoulder. She was shaking badly, and she snuggled up on his stomach, pressing her head into it. She brought up her feet onto the bed and lay down sideways. The tears wouldn't stop spilling from her already puffy eyes, but she couldn't help it. She was also sniffling and shaking like an idiot. She chanced opening her eyes to see Karkat glaring at her from across the room. He thought she was nothing as well, it was obvious.

She shot straight up; almost head butting Equius in the chin. She closed her eyes and ran out, pushing Gamzee out of her way. She knew the way out and the way home, so it was just a manor of running fast enough so no one would try to stop her. She quickly made it outside and took off into the fields, almost running out of breath. She didn't know what to do, so she just kept running. If Aradia were really a ghost she would hate her, Feferi hates her for doing that to Sollux (even though Nepeta didn't know she felt for him at all), Equius hates her for being weak and pathetic, and Karkat must hate her for the same reason.

She couldn't help it. That was a lie, and no matter how much she told herself that, she would never truly believe it. She could do something; she was just so pathetic that she thought she couldn't as a way to get out of what she was actually supposed to do to improve herself. And what she was supposed to do is better herself, for Aradia. Tears were gone from her eyes, and were replaced by the hot burning of the spring sun. She eventually stopped and sat on a log, far off the path, to catch her breath.

Her lungs were burning, and she felt sick so she took off her jacket and set it down beside her before lying on the log with her head resting against the soft material. She looked up at the sun shining down through the cracks in the glowing green trees and hated it. How could something look so peaceful and so beautiful when someone, someone so close to her had just died?

'I know you hate me Aradia. I always considered you as a friend that left me, and not even a very close friend at that. We could have been best friends. I shouldn't have been so distant to you.'

"Aradia…I'm so sorry" Nepeta felt her eyes burn and she closed her eyes, folding her hands on her stomach.

"At least you knew her longer than I did" a familiar whispery voice said. Nepeta opened her eyes and looked to her side to see Equius walking up. He plopped down and rested his back against the log, and she could tell he ran after her from the way he was sweating. She faced the sky again, closing her eyes once more and thought about what he said.

"Equius, I know you're sad, you're fury pad at hiding it." He chuckled between breaths and ran his fingers through his hair. He thought to himself that he would have to wash his hair soon, but dismissed those thoughts. They weren't relevant or nearly as important.

"I loved her." Equius said it coldly, and Nepeta felt her heart stop. Of course he loved Aradia, everyone seemed to. It was her, Vriska, Kanaya, Feferi, or especially Terezi. No one loved the small useless cutesy girl who was always alone, even if they pretended to. Even Karkat loved Terezi more than her, no matter how much she hated to admit it. She inwardly slapped herself when she realized that she was focusing too much on herself.

First off, how did he love her? From what Nepeta knew, Equius had only known Aradia from yesterday. If she was going to be Equius's friend, she should know who he likes let alone loves, especially since she loved paring her friends up. It was one of her favorite activities, and with Karkat's system of parings, she was able to include everyone with at least two other possible relationships for them, but she didn't want to pair Equius with anyone, let alone Aradia, for reasons she didn't even know. All she knew was the thought of him being with such a beautiful person such as Aradia made her chest hurt.

Second off, since he loved Aradia he was probably hurting so much more inside than she was. Her heart went out to him, because although she could tell he was sad by the slower way he was walking or the way he seemed a little distant, clear signs from what Nepeta observed of others from her many years sitting by herself away from people. She never knew it was because he loved her because she was so wrapped up in herself. She felt bad for herself, she was beating herself up, she blamed others, and she was just horrible in every way. How dare she? What audacity does a useless girl like her have to be such a burden?

"Equius, I'm so sorry. I never realized…I'm a horri-"Equius cut her off with a gentle squeeze to her hand. She realized she was letting tears leak from her eyes again and she wiped them away with the back of her wrist from the hand that Equius wasn't holding onto. The mere fact that he did had made her quiet, because Equius never touched her. It was always her hugging and pulling on him, but he never made any move for human interaction. Nepeta was OK with that of course, but she still thought it was a little strange, but now, since she was used to the no interaction from him, it was almost special.

"I never wanted anyone to know because I don't like letting people in. They don't need to know about me and my life like I don't need to know about there's…but Nepeta I need to know what's wrong."

"What's wrong?" Nepeta asked a little worried.

"You left. You left without telling me, Karkat, Gamzee, Sollux, or Feferi where you were going. You left upset with tears in your eyes and shoving Gamzee, who did nothing, out of the way. From what I've observed, that's not like you at all. I was so worried…and so was Karkat, but I don't know…I don't know what I would do if my only reason-"he was cut off by himself. He took a deep breath of air and took off his glasses to massage over his eyelids. "I just want you to be safe and happy Nepeta. I don't know what happened, but I fell in love with Aradia…and now she's gone. I actually became friends with someone…I don't want them to be gone to."

"Equius" Nepeta sat up, careful not to move her hand from where Equius was holding it. He looked up at her, his dark blue eyes shimmering from the small square of sunlight that hit his pale face. Nepeta smiled down at him, thinking she must have looked horrible from his point of view. Her hair was messy and un-brushed since yesterday afternoon, and wasn't even tucked under her cat hat which was left at her house. Her face was probably just as sweaty as his, along with being tear stained and red with puffy eyes. Her shirt had a few stains on it from almost constant use, and a few leaves stuck to her shoulders and hair, but Equius just watched her, and she put those thoughts of how horrible she was aside for just a moment to focus on Equius, because she felt like he deserved it. He deserved every small kindness she could give to him, for he was there for her when so many friends abandoned her, and she had a feeling that he wouldn't. She felt like…he would stay at her side forever, and it brought and actual genuine grin to her lips that she presented him before cupping his cheek with her free hand and bending down to kiss his nose.

She brought her head back, and his eyes were closed. He blinked them open, and smiled as his eyes grew wetter and tears started coming to the surface. He let her hand slide out of his and he twisted around so he was actually facing her. He was crying a lot now, and Nepeta wrapped her arms around his neck. She hugged him close, running her fingers through his hair as he sobbed into her shoulder. This was his time, and she was happy to be the one to comfort, instead of needing it so desperately.

He eventually stopped, and touched her shoulder ever so gently. She released him and they looked at each other a few moments, both smiling dorkily with such relief that they had each other. Suddenly, Nepeta was lifted into the air and Equius stood up, setting her on his shoulders. She patted his head happily as he held onto her legs. He ran through the woods and Nepeta ducked her head down low so she wouldn't hit the branches. They eventually broke through the woods line and he let go of her legs to let her jump down. She looked around to see they were at the parking lot of the school, and memories came flooding back to her.

Equius looked down at her and saw that she was crying again. He didn't know what to do, so he set her jacket over her head as a distraction. He had grabbed it just before he took off into the woods. She pulled the sides of it away from her face and looked up at him and he froze. She tilted her head like a curious cat, and he looked away, starting to sweat. He heard her giggle and she took his hand. She started walking away, gently tugging on his hand and he followed as to not make her fall down from his strength.

"I think tomorrow I'm going to ask to join the track team." This came out of nowhere and he blinked with confusion. He pushed his cracked glasses farther up the bridge of his nose to get a better look at her, but she wasn't any different aside from the fact that her jacket had fallen around her shoulders. She was however looking down at her feet as they walked, her thoughts overturning each other like an angry ocean welcoming a storm floating just beyond its borders.

"Why the track team?" Equius asked, but Nepeta shrugged her shoulders.

"Because I wouldn't have been furst enough to stop her, even if I kneow what was going to happen." She said so darkly, and with a slight sniffle that Equius knew she had started crying again. Nepeta didn't want him to worry, but she couldn't help her over lapping thoughts.

"Nepeta, neighbe I should take you home." Nepeta let her hair fall over her eyes and nodded. It's not like she was going anywhere, so she turned around and let Equius lead. He let his hand slip out of hers, but he knew she was following. If the mere fact that he didn't think Nepeta would run away from him wasn't enough, he could hear her footsteps echoing his behind him.

"Equius, I'm pawrry I'm such a purrden. This shouldn't be how we start off a furiendship." She sniffled a little and Equius bowed his head, thinking about how to reply.

"You're not a burden; in fact you're just the opposite."

"If you say so" Nepeta said with hollowness. She started shaking again as she realized she must have been so pathetically repetitive. How was Equius not sick of her?

"Nepeta! Holy shit there you are! Are you alright?" Nepeta looked up to see Karkat running down the path that she and Equius were heading back towards. She couldn't meet his eyes, so she looked down at a pile of sticks nearby.

"She's fine; I found her a whine ago." Equius's hand felt for hers and gripped it tightly, and she forgot her worries to look up at him, slightly scared. Karkat carefully came down the hill that Nepeta and Equius were climbing to get fully back into the woods, and he enveloped Nepeta in a hug. Nepeta felt a blush creep onto her cheeks and she buried her head into Karkat's shoulder. She felt her jacket fall off and land down on the dirt below, but she didn't care. She started sobbing, and Karkat brushed her back and hair softly.

"God damn it Nepeta don't start or I'll-"she heard him sniffle and she hugged him close to her. He was slightly taller than her, so she fit perfectly well in his arms, and they just merged together, both sniffling and gripping ear other for comfort.

"I'm just going to leave" Equius said softly and took a few steps back. Nepeta didn't hear his soft voice, but she did hear the earth crunch beneath his black army boots. She let go of Karkat, and he did the same to her. She broke apart completely from him and looked for Equius, but he had disappeared over the hill.

"Where'd he go?" Karkat asked, and Nepeta shrugged.

"I don't know, do you think he'll be alright?"

"How the hell do you expect me to know? I've just met the guy and from what I've seen so far, he has no emotions. That or he picked his glasses very well, because I can't tell what the hell he's thinking. To me he's the same as Dave or the stupid brother of his."

"Yeah, but he isn't as mean" Nepeta defended, looking back at Karkat with eyes a little narrowed and cheeks puffed out. She was back to her usual self, slightly at least. Karkat had a way of making his friends feel better, and it was almost completely unexplainable.

"Hell Nepeta, I don't know that and neither do you."

"He just isn't I swear! I just kneow this Karkitty." The two stared at each other for a while and Karkat let out a small sigh.

"Alright, alright, I trust you. Hey, you mind if I sleep over at your house? It's closer and I don't want to walk all the way back home."

"Of course Karkitty!" she giggled and ran at him, throwing her arms around him and knocking him off his feet, sending him flying backwards and they slid together down the hill. She pinned his arms at his sides and grinned down at him. "But you have to carry meow there."

"Fuck you then, I'll just walk home" he yelled at her before squirming desperately beneath her.

"Aw Karkitty, you're no furun!" She stuck out her tongue at him, and he headbutted her. She of course laughed at the act and brought her head back from his. "Purrease?" she asked, batting her eyelashes and giving her biggest and cutest kitty cat eyes. He looked at her for a second and sighed, begrudgingly looking to the side.

"Sure, but only if I can take a shower at your place."

"But Karkitty! That leaves us less time to larp together" she complained.

"I don't want to smell like a stupid shit on a trashcan full of piss all day tomorrow at school. Besides, if I smell bad Terezi gets mad at me. I don't want my brains whacked out of my head by her stick." Nepeta giggled at the thought of Terezi sniffing him and wacking him with her stick for smelling bad, and got off of him.

"Sure thing, but I have no change of clothes fur you, unless you want to wear girl clothes all day tomeowrrow" she said, but Karkat ignored her as he got up and brushed dirt off of his sweater.

"I'll just wear the same thing. I can borrow some non-girly pjs from you and wear them until my clothes get out of the wash." Nepeta blushed, imagining Karkat in just his boxers for a moment, but quickly dismissed the thought by shaking her head back and forth. She actually stood up from the crouch she was settled in and jumped right in front of him.

"Deal, but I'm going to choose the puffiest pinkest pajamas I can find, with adorable little ruffles that you'll look oh so purretty in!" He shoved her backwards and she stumbled a little, laughing.

"Oh no you won't!"

"Hahaha, try to stop me!"

"I'll walk around your house in the nude then!" Karkat said stubbornly and Nepeta blushed while thinking of a good retort.

"Don't ruin Pounce De Leon's innocence!"

"Who the fuck is that?"

"My cat stupid."

"Then I'll be sure to- wait fuck that would backfire."

"What would?"

"Stop imagining me doing stuff to your cat sicko."

"I wasn't thinking that!"

"Sure you weren't. God Nepeta, now I won't feel so safe at your house." He dramatically sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Guess I should make the long journey home then!"

"Stop being such a butt!" Nepeta stuck her tongue out and shoved him. He took a few steps back, laughing at her, and spun around, offering his hands for the piggy back ride. Nepeta picked up her jacket and threw it on before she jumped on his back excitedly and wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug.

"Hey don't fucking choke me dumb ass!"

"Hehehe, sorry Karkitty!" Karkat walked off into the woods, a little unsteadily and he had Nepeta almost slip several times. Nepeta was sure that she liked having Equius carry her more, but she did like being this close to Karkat. It felt nice, and she already knew she had feelings for him…a little more than friendship. She's known for a while, but she was sure that he didn't like her that way. In fact, she was sure he didn't…so why throw away being able to be close to him for something that was impossible?

She laid her head on her arm and closed her eyes as they walked. She was happy, and deep inside her it sickened her. How dare she be happy? Aradia can't be happy anymore, and it's all because she couldn't do anything. As much as she was sinking into that thought so much that it imprinted itself on her brain, she wouldn't tell and worry Karkat. She couldn't make him sad, and she wouldn't. She would never be that cruel to him.

"Nepeta, Aradia wouldn't want you, Sollux, or anyone to be sad. I know you won't admit it because you're a stubborn ass, but I know you are. Just know what she wouldn't blame you for anything, and if it were me that died it would break me inside if I looked down or up from wherever the hell I am and saw you as sad as you are now. If you really want to do something to take your mind off her death than we could do a stupid school club together or something OK? Just please cheer up a little."

Nepeta felt her eyes water, so the most she could muster was a nod and a quiet OK. They walked the rest of the way in silence and when they eventually got to her house he dropped her off at the door and they walked in together. Nepeta went online to check who was on while Karkat talked to his mom on the phone and got into the shower. Once he did, Nepeta gathered his clothes that he left in front of the door to the bathroom. It was everything except for his boxers, and Nepeta's face was aflame as she walked through her house and set them in the washing machine.

She then ran up to her room and as promised got a bright pink ruffled nighty for him. She hung it on the door to the bathroom, and shortly he came out with his hair and arms still partially wet and in his boxers. He was glaring at her and she only realized she was staring at him when he threw the dress she gave him over her eyes.

"Where's your fucking cat." He started to turn and Nepeta grabbed the dress and tackled him before forcing him into it eventually. He was a mess of flailing arms, but eventually gave up and wore the dress. Nepeta wish she had a camera but settled taking a picture when he wasn't looking with her phone and sending it to Sollux and Gamzee. They responded with 'lolz' and 'hahahas' and she showed the texts to Karkat who glared at her.

"Next we should do your hair! You would look adorable in pigtails." She giggled and Karkat sent even more glares her way.

"Shut your mouth and get on Alternia stupid." He opened up Nepeta's spare laptop that found its way on top of her pillow, which beside Karkat now sat, and she hopped on the one at her desk. The rest of the night was filled with laughter and teasing as well as a few curses coming from Karkat's gamer rage. Eventually though, Nepeta's usual bed time rolled around and she started to yawn.

"Karkitty I'm tired."

"Is it grubby's bed time already?" She threw a pillow at him, but it was obvious he was tired as well. They laid on her bed together, Karkat with his back to her and she stared at him for a long time with the lights off. Her eye lids eventually drooped though and she closed them, smiling to herself until the same thought that had been following her all day had popped back into her mind.

'It's all your fault.'


End file.
